Krait book 16 part 3: A lot of surprises
by slytherinsal
Summary: The second task of the Triwizard is imminent, but it is not the foremost thing in the lives of some of the students. Danger from a selection of supremacists of more or less efficiency still abound, and Aglaia Hallow has some hard choices to make. Meanwhile the Musical Marauders plot to get Agata Bacso sorted out romantically.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Severus had no intention of leaving the Prinzhorn over Christmas, because he had every anticipation that Dolokhov was going to get someone – probably Lord Pyotr – to try something on to punish him for not half-killing the cheeky little monkeys who had made such fun of him.

Besides, it was overdue for another attempt on the castle. Lucius was having all the younger ones for Christmas, and Jade's children too, along with small Lily's goblin father, who would learn a lot through meeting goblin Malfoys.

Lucius enjoyed having a house full of children, and besides it would make more innocent chaperones to prevent him from getting carried away with Biirta, though Severus was still wondering what had made the girl blush so when Lucius had told her that he was planning a Christmas musicale with his harpsichord.

Severus was hosting several of the more open minded Whitesnakes over Christmas, especially after Drach had written enthusiastically to a couple of his fellows. With their help, and those of his willing staff, and such of the postgraduates and children who stayed on for the holidays, Severus also set up wards against undead, tying the line to the lightning conductors as he had for the fey. According to what the Ubiquitous Marauders had said, it worked very well indeed to use lightning to disrupt the magical bond between rotting body and disintegrated soul of the inferii.

The ritual-excluding line, which Severus had been quite proud of, it being one-way only, was also strengthened to make sure that it also covered the opening of gates into the castle.

"The protection of a school requires a lot of major wards, doesn't it?" said Drach.

"When I was first teaching, I confess I queried the necessity of many of the wards at Hogwarts," said Severus. "I learned during the Voldemort years that not only were they necessary, but that previous protective wards had not gone far enough. It's only in the modern age, though, that political powers have waged war on schools with so much vigour. Goblins once hoped to use Hogwarts in a hostage situation, but their plans were betrayed – and just as well, in the long run, such foolishness would have set back their cause by centuries – but only Voldemort and Odessa and other supremacists have fully understood the moulding of young hearts and minds and yet managed to be so totally inefficient in their approach."

"By using direct attack?" asked Drach.

"Yes, and by failing to understand the mindset of the children they sought to dominate too," said Severus. "It is the custom of the English child – and that appears to have rubbed off on those from other nations here – to make the best of things and find a game in it. Hence the reputation we have for treating dark wizards as sport. It is an attitude somewhat encouraged by the staff, to help prevent fear, and our staunch little fighters can support the adults. And I recall the current headmaster of Hogwarts as a small boy, about the age of Zhenga and co, leading a sally of his classmates against werewolves at that," he added, "and first and second years eager to have a go at a huorn army. There were about fifty of the wretched things," he added. "Confirmed me in my dislike of Herbology save for potion ingredients. Plants are dangerous."

"Coming from the man who has faced out more dark wizards than most, that almost sounds facetious," said Drach.

Severus shrugged.

"I know where I am facing out dark wizards; the way they think and what they are likely to do seems obvious to me. Plants are alien. It doesn't mean I can't handle them – I did my part flying a broom with weed killer to aim at the roots of the brutes – but I don't have to like them."

Drach nodded.

"I see," he said. "What of the undead? You cannot know their mind as they have none."

"No, but if you perceive them as the weapon of a human agency who does have a mind, then you know how he will have programmed them, and directed them," said Severus. "To be honest, I doubt that Dolokhov's complaint will go as far as the Necromancer; it's more likely to be Lord Pyotr, or as we like to call him, Lord Flexi Jerkoff. It's very rude in English, as well as being a muggle literary reference" he added as Drach looked uncomprehending. "He is a limited man who refuses to accept when I told his poor little spy to tell him the truth. He seeks for a powerful artefact from which I 'must' be getting my power, and which 'must' be powered with sacrifices. I ask you, do I look the sort of fool who would bury his power in things?"

"No. And he does not sound as though he truly appreciates the power of ritual, nor what I suspect is a blood ritual of some considerable proportions. I found my way to your library after all," said Drach.

"I can see why Mischa rates you," said Severus. "Will you teach in the school he hopes to found?"

"Yes, I believe I shall," said Drach. "I have learned much about children of different blood status here, and I should like to nurture other talents that are currently being wasted."

"The hungry and repressed will not shine. Brains grow only if nurtured with plenty of protein at an early age – which is why mankind's development of sentience coincided with a more varied diet – and protein is a high status food amongst the poor," said Severus. "Providing meals for the students and making sure that all communities have access to goats for milk and chickens for eggs will do more than the most carefully worked out regimen of study."

"I did not know that," said Drach. "Dear me, we have much to learn."

"And I am more and more happy to work with the Order of the Dragon in seeing how willing you are to learn," said Severus. "There is always more to learn, for everyone; and anyone who thinks he knows it all, knows very little."

oOoOo

Jade emptied the Schloss Adler school for the holidays, sent the elves on holiday, set up an engulfing line for anyone approaching the school with ill intent to sweep them into a hastily constructed oubliette where their needs would be seen to by a skeleton staff. This was to say a replica of Ed in the Hogwarts oubliette save that this Ed sported nipple rings on his rib cage. Pulling the left one played 'Danse Macabre' and pulling the right one played 'Fanfare for the Common Man.' Jade was like that, sometimes. There was also a wand of water-producing with a tin mug, and a preserving cupboard with such unexciting but nourishing food like ham, hard boiled eggs, salad, bread and apples in it. Unlike the Hogwarts oubliette there was a camp bed, late of the German army. If there were more than one person interfering, it would get a little cosy, but doubtless Fritti would ignore being on holiday and would check up in any case.

Sometimes the best defence was not to be there to be attacked. Jade took all the orphanage on holiday to Cyprus because it seemed like a good idea at the time, and was about as random a place as possible, since she picked it by throwing darts at a map of the world.

oOoOo

Philomène and her mother spent the Christmas holiday with Pharamond's family, and small Amadis was passed around much. Pharamond was utterly content. He had no idea how discontented Achille Villeneuve was; his choice of champion for Beauxbatons had been put in gaol, neither of his cousins in Prince Peak could make a better showing than a goblin, and he would be writing coldly to Cecily, breaking their betrothal for that! And on top of it all, the boy who was Beauxbatons champion, who had an excellent pedigree, led the ball with a part goblin! Pharamond was on Achille's death list, though had he known he would have said happily that he couldn't think of a better person's death list to be on.

oOoOo

Biirta was delighted to find Petrus an animated and happy child, who had brought three friends home for part of the holiday, and who talked Quidditch most of the time. Getting to kiss Lucius was heavenly, and to feel in her blood that Lucius and the girls were proud of her for giving her best in the Triwizard regardless of where she placed was a boost to her.

Zajala had invited Nigel home for the holidays, and Clymene had arrived too with sundry Snapes, and Clymene burst out to Lucius,

"Oh please, sir, could you ask Leonard and see if you can sort him out like Severus sorted out Nigel?"

"Oh sir, it's a cheeky thing for her to ask, but if you could it would be splendid," said Nigel.

"I'll see about it," said Lucius. "He might not want sorting out. But I'll talk to him."

True to his word, Lucius sought Leonard Baddock out. He was an arrogant looking young man, who was working in the Ministry under his uncle, Wallace Baddock.

"Leonard," said Lucius, "I've been looking for you."

Leonard looked wary.

"I haven't caused Malfoy-Tobak any trouble," he said.

"If you had, I'm sure he'd have dealt with it himself, and there wouldn't be enough of you for me to look for," said Lucius.

"He's capable," said Leonard. "What did you want?"

"Ah, yes, like your brother, you have the blindness to social graces," said Lucius. "I have your sister and brother staying with me for the holidays and they asked if you would like to join them – because Nigel needed some help from Severus Snape, and he trusts me to be able to extend the same help to you."

Leonard looked even warier.

"What sort of help?" he asked.

"Well, Leonard, it is only with Nigel that Severus was able to bring together some research he has been doing over a number of years – he is a busy man – to the effect that members of your family have an anger problem related to an inability to understand people. And as I know fine well how to wear arrogance as a mask, I know you are doing so too, and that you are almost afraid to ask more. Am I right?"

"Yes," said Leonard.

"I'm inclined to the opinion that Malcolm was just nasty as well," said Lucius, "but you kept your nose clean at school and buckled down. As did Nigel until he lost his temper. But then Gorbrin offered him help. Gorbrin's help was a bit rough and ready, but it prompted Nigel to ask for more help. And now Nigel is a happier boy and his grades have improved. And if you'd still been at school, you'd have been offered the same. And now the kids want you to be a brother in the way they see my older children being real brothers to the younger ones. You don't have to accept; but I offer it freely for the friends of my own children."

Leonard had a yearning look. To have been friendly with Malfoys would have been the pinnacle of success; but his parents would never have sanctioned him looking on a goblin like Gorbrin as a social equal, and Jade and Lydia and their ilk had despised him.

"What… what sort of help?" he asked.

"It's a long chant. It is partly for you, and partly to remove a flaw from your heritance so that you won't pass this on to your children. It will enable you to begin to understand better why there are rules in society, to feel the fact that others have feelings too and… well, quite a lot," said Lucius, who knew there was little point in explaining to a psychopath what made him a psychopath. It was only fortunate that the Baddocks did not seem to display the charming, manipulative aspect some psychopaths had; as Tom Riddle had. "It helps you with the red mist that wants to hurt people too."

"That would be useful," said Leonard. "Being ruled by rage means you have trouble seeking promotion."

"Well, come along," said Lucius. "No time like the present; I'll see it's cleared that you have an extra holiday. I shan't tell your uncle though; I don't like him."

"Has he got this heritable whatever it is?" asked Leonard.

"No; I checked," said Lucius. "He's a nasty little twerp all on his own. Be proud; yours is fixable."

"Good," said Leonard, who definitely considered being a nasty little twerp was to be avoided; it lacked the grandeur of evil wizardry.

Leonard found himself made comfortable on a sofa, and Nigel took one hand and Clymene took the other. He was not sure how he felt about this.

Two hours later as his memories were being unlocked, a refinement Lucius considered necessary in a young man of twenty, Leonard was becoming glad of the sister and brother he had not treated well. He realised he was crying.

"Now you know, and now you can move on, Leo!" said Nigel, patting his arm.

Lucius drew out the Malfoy lines and absently continued chanting to destroy the faulty gene. Psychopathy could arise spontaneously, or be caused by cranial trauma, but could also be passed on, or at least the faulty gene leading to low empathy, aggression and antisocial behaviour could, and Lucius, who did his chanting like Lilith using Assimilative Correlation by obscure pun, murmured "MAO-A doth rule my life" as a part of his chant. There were other genes of course, and unlike muggle scientists, Lucius was able to highlight them as Leonard relived his memories, and modify them accordingly. Severus did it by instinct, but Lucius did it by order and method. And how Severus would splutter if told that he used anything but scientific method! Lucius planned to tease him about it when he discussed this. They would have a splendid little quarrel and Severus would end up coming up with more theory than Lucius felt capable of, and then they would get drunk on elf-made wine together and leave the notes out for Krait to refine.

"I expect you feel as weak as a kitten, my boy, and also want to spend some time with your family," said Lucius gently, as he finished. "I'll have a tea tray sent in to you."

Lucius' idea of a tea-tray was a three-tiered dumb-waiter from the early years of the 19th Century, groaning with food, as well as a tea pot, coffee pot and cream as well as milk. And the Baddocks had much to catch up on.

That was a potential problem sorted.

Lucius decided that he would break the news to Wallace Arbuthnot Baddock that he had stolen his nephew a little bit; it gave him the opportunity to drop the dirigible fart curse on him. And that was mostly on behalf of Mary-Ann Green-Dell, whose mother it was that Wallace Baddock had run off with. It would be part of his Christmas gift to the dear girl.

oOo

The Gardiner children had a lot to tell their mother about their first term; and Amanda looked distinctly wistful as Adam explained about the Blood Group, and all it stood for, and how Ace would be a part of it by right when the youngest were brought in.

"How do you get chosen for it?" she asked.

"Well, if you want to Maraud. Or support, I guess, because your set support, though there's Marauders too now you've gone up a year," said Adam. "You mean they haven't asked you yet? Well that's what you get for being a bit standoffish at them."

"I wasn't," said Amanda.

"I expect they are waiting to see if you seem keen," said their mother. Lucius had explained blood magic to her, and loaned her the book, and explained how it was not like muggles sharing blood, nor at all risky where blood poisoning was concerned, or she might have been a little less happy. But Lucius had every expectation of some, if not all, of her children being a part of it.

"I don't want to be, I don't think," said Andy, who found the concept of being closer than close rather intimidating.

"You don't have to be," said Adam. "It'd be nice to all be a part of it, but it's got to be a personal choice. Nigel and Zajala aren't, and they both have siblings who are."

Amanda did want it, but she was not sure how to ask.

oOoOo

David had very little expectation that the Russians were going to try anything against Hogwarts School; not yet, in any case. They had laid several eggs in trying to attack Prince Peak and Durmstrang simultaneously, and Hogwarts still held a fearsome reputation. Gerhardt had been told stories about how Dumbledore was as soft as butter, as Gellert Grindelwald had seen him; he had learned otherwise, and besides, Dolokhov knew that Lucius Malfoy would, at a pinch, aid his old _alma mater_ , and Dolokhov for one feared Lucius. As did anyone with any sense, reflected David. Lucius had the ability to perform small revenges on those he disliked, with corridor level curses, but he was also probably one of the most powerful wizards on earth – or even on the flagstones of Malfoy Manor – and everyone who was anyone knew it.

Why nobody seemed to twig that Severus was possibly even more powerful, David could never understand.

David, who was down to earth and well-adjusted would never understand that the power-hungry could not even comprehend why a powerful wizard would 'waste' his time teaching instead of amassing a political and economic empire as Lucius did. The Snape acquisition of wealth through careful investment, and the marketing of modified muggle artefacts passed most people by; and that Severus actually enjoyed teaching would never occur to them.

This, of course, was the seat of the rumours of a powerful artefact that Severus guarded and used.

oOoOo

Agata Bacso was pleased that the castle had plenty of wards up, and that Clovis Gierek was more than equal to dealing with most threats, and had the sense to call in help if he needed it.

She was very much taken aback to hear Clovis' adopted son, Radagas, explaining at the top of his young lungs all about his friends – ranging from a pure blood junker like Falk Kesselring to an elf – and how they jinxed Dolokhov's chair.

Agata slipped Radagas ten galleons and suggested he and his friends have a treat on her.

"Oh thank you, Madam Bacso!" said Radagas. "I'm only sorry I wasn't doing it with Zoltan and Sigismund and the others, but my friends are dead cool!"

He really was no different to any human boy, reflected Agata. And certainly put her more in mind of her son than many a human boy.

"A little nipper like that did all that stuff with the music and writing and all?" said Saxdred, who was around, doing repairs.

"Well, with a group of others," said Agata. "It is impressive. And clever of them to target the chair not the man. Much safer. Radagas is a son Clovis may be proud of. A pity the parents would not accept him here, but there! One has to assemble the blood snobs of the future where one might keep an eye on them, and hope to open their eyes a little."

"You think very long term, Headmistress," said Saxdred.

"I'm only starting, really, to think," sighed Agata. "And to realise how everything I grew up with is probably a lie. Go and find something somewhere else to do, Saxdred; I want to chew on my liver a little bit at the erosion of my prejudices."

"You're as honest as they come, as well as the most gracious witch I ever met," said Saxdred, and took himself off.

Agata wished he did not make her feel quite so inadequate in his evident admiration of her.

oOoOo

"If I was going to attack, I'd do so at lunch time on Christmas Day," said Krait.

"If you were going to attack, I'd probably run away," said Severus. "However, I'm not sure he'd get the timing right; those idiot Russians are still on the Julian calendar not the Gregorian, despite even Soviet Russia having come into line with the rest of the world and catching up with the proper motions of the heavens."

"If it was good enough for some Bogatyr in the twelfth century, it's good enough for them, I suppose," said Krait.

"Something like that. I had Carmenta lay cards, read tea leaves and tickle the crystal ball, and she came up with a feasible date. As Law told me to have a happy New Year and save some dementors for the rest of them, I'm assuming he has no fears, and that it's going to be after New Year. Carmenta had the fifth being a date that held some irritations."

"Irritations?" Krait raised an eyebrow. "Nothing serious then?"

"I think our fey-frying line takes threat down to irritation level," said Severus dryly. "And I'm waiting to hear from Leesitsa too."

oOo

Leesitsa came hesitantly to knock on Severus' door, and entered at his cheerful 'herein!'

He regarded her thoughtfully.

"Did he want you to assassinate me, or steal the non-existent artefact?" he asked, cynically.

"How did you know?" gasped Leesitsa.

Severus laughed.

"I know Lord Pyotr, and what sort of man he is," he said. "And I still don't KNOW, my dear, which one it is."

"Steal the artefact," said Leesitsa. "Which amounts to the same thing as killing you, as he has determined that it is as red as a ruby and is a heart and that you carry it within you, and please don't laugh too hard because I didn't dare tell him it was a load of rubbish."

"I wasn't laughing because I was worrying about your family if you plainly don't succeed," said Severus. "So do you know what the secret is?"

Leesitsa made an impatient gesture.

"Of course I do; once I'd talked to Danica, I read the book. With what she'd said it fell into place. I did ask if his divination had been correctly interpreted and he had what your juniors call a hissy fit, and told me I was stupid. From which I assume he did his own interpretation."

"Oh these amateur seers," sighed Severus. "I've known a few, though most of them have either been self-important teenagers or silly old bats."

Leesitsa giggled, a little hysterically.

"He'd hate being likened to either! Which doesn't displease me. Fortunately I don't have much family to worry about," she said. "Only my uncle, who is a crony of Lord Pyotr. So that's not a problem."

"What about Domna? Will he take out irritation at you on her family?" asked Severus.

Leesitsa considered.

"I don't think so; they are a large and prominent family and to go to war with a good Russian family who are wealthy and well connected would not go down well with potential followers of his," she said.

"Good. Then all we do is sit back and wait," said Severus.

"Aren't you going to… well, make preparations?" asked Leesitsa. Severus laughed.

"People have been attacking this school since my cousin Constance Hardbroom escaped from it by opening a gate with as many of the little ones as would go with her," he said. "I have defences layered in place. I know when the attack is likely to be, and I have no intention of having my Christmas spoiled by any minor irritations like the soon-to-be meerkat."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Leesitsa.

"Krait threatened to turn him into a meerkat if he misbehaved again. I'm not going to stop her," said Severus. "I've never seen a sending done via floo before, it should be entertaining."

"Is it even possible?" gasped Leesitsa.

Severus shrugged.

"Krait came to the Wizarding World at fifteen years old, having had her magic blocked by a counter-ritual, and as she didn't know what was possible and what was not has managed time after time to demonstrate that the impossible is often only a matter of the perception of small minds," he said.

"May I watch too?" asked Leesitsa.

"You're welcome," said Severus.

"I've taken good note of the lectures on the Dark Arts your son gives," said Leesitsa, abruptly, "and I've come to the conclusion that I've been pointed towards being a loser. I don't want to be a loser. You and all your staff are remarkable people – as indeed are many of your pupils – and they can take my breath away with what they can do without needing to resort to the Dark Arts. And I know Krait does transfigurations whilst leaving the human brain intact, and in a way, a transfiguration to Meerkat and in such fashion is almost more terrible than any curse."

"Oh yes," said Severus. "But if she had done it without provocation it would still have been the Dark Arts for having dark intent; but he has been told that there is no big secret, and warned to leave us alone. If he does not heed the warning, that, then, is his problem, like muggle signs warning people not to play with electricity."

"It's dangerous then?" said Leesitsa. "I thought they just used it instead of spells."

"It can kill you if you play with it injudiciously," said Severus. "But then, so can spell effects."

"Point taken," said Leesitsa.

oOo

Severus and family joined the younger ones at Malfoy Manor for Christmas and a good time was had by all. The staff took a day each watching out for any trouble before the anticipated date, and Percy and Harmony spent much of the holiday there in order to avoid too many effusive outpourings from Molly.

The attack, when it came, was anticlimactic.

Fey of a mixed kind from dementors up to very minor demons roiled in, hit the line, and then Severus released the lightning that his competent team had been building up in the lightning rod.

The fey came apart like torn shreds of diaphanous cloth.

It may be said that Leesitsa was impressed.

oOo

"Lord Pyotr," said Krait, coldly.

"You wish to sue for peace and make terms?" the face glowed greenly in the flames.

"I think you overrate yourself," said Krait. "I did warn you last time we spoke, what would happen if you interfered in our school again."

He waved a hand.

"I can manage to forgive that. I might even comfort you, the grieving widow," he said.

"What a loathsome turd you are," said Krait, conversationally. "If the three of us were grieving widows, you'd be in too many pieces by now to ever put yourself together because we'd splinch your ghost as well as your body. But we're not. So I'm just going to turn you into a meerkat."

Lord Pyotr laughed.

The laugh became gradually rather squeaky.

"What have you done?" he squealed.

"What I promised. I keep my promises," said Krait.

The Meerkat wore a smoking jacket just like the one in the advert. It could also still talk. In a way, that almost made it worse because he would be a figure of ridicule for his underlings; something any Russian Strong Man hates.

Krait smiled, waved, and cancelled the fire-talking.

Leesitsa was almost crying with laughter.

"So it is possible," said Severus.

"Did you doubt me?" asked Krait.

He shook his head.

"No, not really," he said.

"And well you should not," said Krait, in a Yoda voice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Blizzards and rough weather were expected in Scotland for the foreseeable future, and David told Hagrid that he would not turn the thestrals out in this muck, and nor was Hagrid to risk rowing anyone across the lake as an alternative.

"How was you planning on getting the nippers to the castle then, David?" asked Hagrid, shaking snow out of his hair and beard that had accumulated as he walked up to the castle to express his own concerns regarding the weather.

"Portkeys," said David. "They'll have to stay sat quietly on the train until their turn comes, I don't really want four hundred odd children arriving in the Great Hall all at once. It's a logistical nightmare to arrange because they will seethe and gyrate like the maggots in that ruddy song.. And I have no intent of arranging four hundred portkeys just to be certain I can drop each individual bottom onto an individual chair, though that's quite possible."

"Ar, you always was dead clever with Geomancy, David," said Hagrid, to whom anyone who could fathom the mysteries of Arithmancy was some species of genius.

"I thought I'd do them in batches; upper sixth along with first years, special sixth with second years, lower sixth with third years, and then fourth and fifth together," said David. "Which with the large intakes of the first and second should even out numbers."

Hagrid nodded.

"Ar, and several portkeys per group?" he asked.

"Yes, with a good separation, and ushered quickly to the side by the staff so we don't have any of the little tykes milling about and becoming intimately involved with another arriving group. De-joinsplinching two people is bad enough, but I have visions of some of our dippier juniors managing to be joinsplinched into a whole group of six."

"Ar, that would be bad," said Hagrid.

Joinsplinching was quite rare but did occur in places where portkeys sent people for sports venues and the like, where the calculations had not been done carefully enough, or safeguards like temporal repelling zones had not been set up to drive people away from the arrival area as soon as they got there. David preferred the elegant use of Waffling logic on the portkey itself, to activate a repelling zone the moment it had deposited its passengers, and planned to use that as well as staff co-operation. There probably were no first years dippy enough to not even notice being repelled, but you never knew.

David set up portkeys and left the final enchantment just in case the train was delayed for any reason.

oOo

London was not experiencing such harsh weather as Scotland, but it was cold, and small persons were happy to be chivvied quickly onto the train. Ace was greeting those of her coterie at the top of her voice.

"I say! Draco helped me with a new spell, he's great! I can do dragon impressions! You know how I belch a lot? And how some people set light to their farts? Well, great news, I can now do Bluebell Belches!"

Sextus grabbed her.

"NOT to be talked about in front of muggles, you pestilential weevil, on the train NOW and burp your bluebell flames where prefects can't see you."

Ace grinned.

"Sorry, Scarpin!" she said and headed rapidly through the barrier with an eager crowd of cronies.

Sextus shook his head.

"Could have been worse," said Kevin. "She could have turned up belching blue flames and upsetting the muggles."

"Were we that bad?" asked Sextus.

"No, you were worse," said Kevin. "Come off it, anything involved with Lilith has to be considered extremely."

Sextus conceded the point. Whatever Lilith was or did it tended to be extremely. No adjective required on the adverb. He caught sight of a child he did not know heading for the barrier.

"Here, weevilous new brat!" he said. "Come and report to the Head Boy [may he live forever] and he can find someone suitable to dump you on."

The small child came over, looking scared.

"You do talk tripe, Scarpin, what's this living forever crap?" said Kevin. "I don't have a note to expect you, kid, and where's your kit? You ain't supposed to be bound for St Jodoc's in Devon or something, are you?"

"Kid's part goblin, talk sense Slugworthy," said Scarpin. "The living forever thing is part of the Pharaonic ritual speech crap from Hieroglyphs."

"I really will have to get around to studying Ancient Runes, I wish someone had told me it was important when I was a weevil," said Kevin. "Now small brat, I need a few answers and under the cloak I can't guess if it's a male weevilous object or a female weevilous object."

"Please, I'm one eighth goblin and I'm a girl and I'm not weevilous," said the child.

"You ain't a first year? You don't look older than eleven," said Sextus.

"I am eleven, well nearly," said the child.

"Then you're a weevil. All first years are weevils because they are a lower form of life, no side, no race, just ageism," said Sextus. "And I don't think anyone cares about the precise degree of goblinness. What we do care about is your name for the records."

The child managed half a grin.

"Oh, that's all right then. My name's Jeszlinn."

"Surname?"

Jeszlinn hesitated.

"If it's gan Prok, I suggest the nearest human relative you know," said Sextus. "Or we'll come up with something for you."

Jeszlinn smiled shyly at him.

"We have a family legend that we descent from the Withers family," she said.

"Oh, like the Crockfords and the Shorgs?" said Sextus. "My girlfriend's father's school is taking the Crockfords next year on a selection of scholarships, they are a clever bunch by all accounts, and he does have facilities for riding. Well, so does Hogwarts now."

"I've never ridden but I think horses are beautiful," said Jeszlinn. "And… and maybe if there are horses, if I can't stay as a pupil I can be a groom."

Sextus regarded her narrowly.

"What's this?" he said. "You're gatecrashing, aren't you?"

Jeszlinn's face crumpled.

"Oh please let me come! Even if I'm tending horses I would learn something, and I do so want an education!"

"What have you against the free school? I know most of the teachers there and they're very good," said Sextus, looking down his nose. "And Professor Abraxus Malfoy's twin is a teacher at Hogwarts, and would find you out if you're supposed to be in Umbrous Lane!"

"But I'm not!" said Jeszlinn. "Mother let me go to the preschool so I could read, write and figure, but she said it's a waste of time going to school for a couple of years until I'm old enough to open my legs for the clients."

"Get through that barrier sharpish then and I'll go talk very fast to the headmaster," said Sextus, making a firm and instant decision and almost propelling Jeszlinn through. He raised his voice. "OY! Dursley! Gardiner Quartius! Get your sorry and weevilous arses over here and take care of Withers!"

Ace and Harry came over. A few blue flames were still trickling out of Ace's mouth and Sextus grinned. The kids would have some mileage with that one.

"You two can take care of Jeszlinn Withers and find her some kit. Hers has had an accident, so she needs the works, I'm sure you can manage to rustle up enough to get her in good enough state before anyone can take her to Diagon Alley."

"I don't have any money," said Jeszlinn.

"Oh, there's the Heather Burns scholarship for creative initiative," said Sextus, making it up as he went along. David would doubtless run with that as a good scholarship to have. Anyway the kid was installed with decent kids and he could apparate to the castle and talk very fast. He left them with Harry explaining that she would have to deal with a bit of flame as Ace was currently under a spell and had drunk some ghastly muggle drink to make it work better, which was very self-sacrificing of her.

"BLUUUUUUUUUU" said Ace fierily.

oOo

Jeszlinn found herself in a carriage with a selection of children who were both goblin and human, and one who might be half elf, and none of them seemed to be segregating themselves. Less so, even, than the kids in Umbrous Lane.

"Hi, new oik, give us the gen," said the part elf girl.

"The poor kid looks quite discomnockerated by your Snapery," said the tall, dark boy. "Ivo Mordaunt, at your service, the Snapeling is Iris. OW!" as Iris poked him. A brief scuffle had both of them in search of their ears, Iris's ears flapping mournfully around the carriage and Ivo's blowing raspberries at him from the luggage rack, whence he had to detach them.

"I'm Jeszlinn…Withers," said Jezlinn. "And I don't have any kit not because of a accident, though, er, Scarpin was nice to say so, but because I've run away from the brothel to go to school 'cos I'm not allowed to go to the free school and Scarpin said he might be able to arrange me a scholarship named after a Heather Burns. So there."

"Well that's bravery for you," said Harry. "I'm the one and only Harry, because I'm named for family. All the other Harrys are named after Harry Potter."

"So's he, only his cousin IS Harry Potter," said Linnie. "And us lot Maraud, and some of the oiks here support, so you don't have to look scared because we'll look out for you."

"She deserves the Heather Burns scholarship, which I didn't know about, but it makes sense, 'cos Heather Burns Tuthill ran away to school from a muggle school," said Iris. "And she and her husband teach with my dad, so I do know her. She studied the kids here and managed to get clothes to look like the uniform and so on, so she seemed like a regular oik, but she was Slytherin, which prides itself on foreplanning, reckon you'll be a Gryff, young Jeszlinn."

"There are four houses named after the four founders of Hogwarts," said Ivo.

"Hark at the professor engaging in lecture mode," said Tagett.

"You and Arzad can't talk, or rather you can, you can talk for England," said Ivo. There was another brief scuffle and Ivo had to call pax as both twins together were a bit much for him, and though they had tentacles and were green, he was dancing and giggling on the ceiling of the carriage.

"Did we have war breaking out in here or …oh it's only weevils," said Gareth Rookwood sticking his head through the door and retiring hastily. As they were Marauding weevils doubtless this was entertainment not bullying.

The four houses were explained with a little less caddery and high jinks, and occasionally interrupted by loud bluebell flames. Bags and trunks were rifled – and Iris sighed and repacked those that were thoroughly disarranged – to find a selection of clothes and pens and paper for Jezlinn. Anyone who associated with the Snapes always had too many pens and too much paper.

oOo

David listened to Sextus' succinct summation of the situation as far as could be determined. He nodded grimly.

"Even if the child has no talent to speak of, if she's expected to go to work in just a few years, that suggests underage prostitution, and it needs investigating; and we need to hang on to her for her own protection. The Crockford, Shorg and Greld families are the most prevalent of the Withers descendants, as I understand it, but are not the only ones. Well, as you're here, you can help me finish off the portkeys once I've alerted Draco and Harry; I'm sure you're more than capable at post NEWT geomancy."

Sextus grinned.

"Made my first portkey when I was thirteen, sir," he said.

"I don't think I'll ask why," said David, who had managed to not hear officially about this exploit.

oOo

"I'm not being idly nosy, Jeszlinn," said Iris, "But you said you'd run away from a brothel. Has anyone… I mean, do they expect you to work yet?"

"Not until I'm thirteen," said Jeszlinn.

"Thirteen? But that's illegal!" said Iris.

"Is it?" said Jeszlinn.

"Too right it is!" said Iris. "The age of consent is sixteen, like for muggles, and anyone who does it to little girls who are younger ought to go to Azkaban, well unless it's a pair of totty headed schoolkids who are stupid enough to let it get away from them, which I suppose can happen. And it ought not to be something you need to escape from because it ought to be your choice."

"Huh, I can really see that, telling Arzhaka that I'm not going to work there; she'd have me worked over so well I couldn't move for the client she found me who'd be one who likes hurting," said Jeszlinn.

"How did you come to be there?" asked Harry.

"I was born to it like me mother and me gran and all," said Jezlinn.

"It's a clear case of slavery," said Harry.

"Well if you think Scarpin hasn't already worked that out and told the head, you must be dippy," said Iris. "He's all there is Sextus Scarpin; he'd have to be, or Lilith wouldn't be ready to marry him when she's old enough."

"Who's Lilith? That's the same name as the kid without a school on the Triwizard," said Jeszlinn.

"Oh she has a school, she's at Hogwarts, but as she's so under age she didn't want to be unfair to the big ones who wanted a go, so she confunded the Goblet of Fire," said Iris.

"Do you know her?" demanded Jeszlinn.

"Of course I know her! She's my sister!" said Iris.

"Go easy on the kid, Snapeness," said Harry, "She doesn't know about your dad having three wives. She probably also doesn't know about elves having larger forms when they're de-cursed so that your mum is as tall as your mother Krait. How would she? We only know because you spare Snape oiks hang about round Malfoy Manor more often than not."

"Git," said Iris, "anyone would think you were a Malfoy instead of only being the godson of one."

"One picks up the mannerisms rather," said Harry. "But so long as nobody's hurt you yet, Jeszlinn, we don't have to worry about whether we know enough medical Transfiguration to heal you, which is what the Snapeness was meaning."

"I hate it when he's right in what he guesses," said Iris. "Exploding snap, anyone?"

Jeszlinn had no idea how lucky she was to have fallen in with children who had a better idea than most, in theory at least, of the seamier sides of life. Nor was she aware that this particular group would make sure to keep her background quiet in case any less savoury elements decided to make it their business to spread unpleasant rumours. But she was much relieved to be accepted for who she was, without censure.

oOo

Kevin was concerned about the train; the conditions were really rough. He made his way up to the engine, to see the drivers, expecting to have to battle through weather over the bunker to the engine. He was amazed to find that the weather was entirely excluded.

"How are we doing?" he asked the driver. The goblin spat in the firebox.

"Strewth! She don't like it one little bit, she don't, but we'll get there, see if we don't. 'Arfanar late, reckon," he added, leaving Kevin to unravel the idiom of 'half an hour' all run together.

"Thanks," said Kevin.

"Thank YOU, Mr Slugworthy, for takin' an interest," said the goblin.

"Mr Scarpin would have come too, only I had to send him on to school the quick way with a message about a pupil," said Kevin, who wanted to make sure the driver would give credit to Sextus next year.

"Ar, reckon he ain't soddin' abaht waiting to learn apparatin' by rote," said the driver, laughing.

Kevin never bothered to ask Marauders how they came to apparate from ridiculously young ages and in non apparating zones. He had a feeling he did not want to know.

He returned to the prefects' carriage.

"What news oh glorious leader?" asked Zajala.

"We'll be half an hour late," said Kevin. "Right, all, time to earn what they don't pay us as prefects and pass along the carriages warning them that we're going to be late and that they may have to wait to be take to the castle by side-along apparation or something. I can't see the head letting the Thestrals turn out in this, or letting Hagrid drown the little darlings in the lake."

"Some of them could be improved by it," said Odilia O'Hare.

"Yeah, but sooner or later Dagworth is going to piss off one of the smaller Snapelings when she's old enough to have her dignity damaged," said Zajala. "Righty-ho, let's do the proper thing. At least it's nothing worse than weather."

The school, on the whole, was quite ready to be well behaved about the whole business, and were waiting more or less quietly when David boarded the train with Sextus and the hoops used for apparating practice.

"Crumbs, I hope Fido isn't hoping we can learn apparating that quickly," said Harry.

"No, Mr Dursley, I do not have unreasonable expectations of the juniors," said David, making Harry cringe gently that his comment had been heard. He had forgotten that a dog animagus had sharper hearing than most. "These hoops are portkeys and you will be divided into groups of six, four juniors to two seniors, who will escort you in your porting groups to the Great Hall. You will grasp the hoop firmly and when you arrive let go and proceed without fuss, noise or other bother to the side of the room to await the arrival of everyone else. I have names on the lists, what is it Miss Snape?"

"Do you have Jeszlinn's name down?" asked Iris.

"Well, as you see Mr Scarpin who came to me with news about her, you might assume I have factored her arrival in, are there any other questions? Good, remain silent and when your name is called out, join the group to which you are called."

David used sonorous spells to make sure that all the first assembled in the corridors in their proper groups, and was relieved to find that there were two minutes in hand. He spoke again.

"Those of you who got there first who are chattering like monkeys will not enjoy a portkey splinch if you do not remain still and ready; and if you talk too much you will be in detention."

Silence might not reign, but the noise level dropped, and then those groups were disappearing, to be greeted by their house heads, into whose designated regions the portkeys should have taken them.

Each series of groups duly went, and it took a full half hour to get through them all, to allow for names to be read out, and some children having trouble finding their right groups. At last they were all gone, and the house elves could collect up bags and baggage and see them restored to their rightful owners in the correct places. David did a quick walk-through of the train, feeling quite nostalgic for the time when he had done so every trip as train prefect, just on the off-chance anyone had fallen asleep and been missed, or been jinxed into a ball and left in the toilets. All seemed well, so he apparated to school, and walked into the great hall. The tables were now up, and the children seated at them.

"Well done," said David. "That went smoothly because you behaved well and showed self discipline, and I am pleased with you. Now before the feast we have a late-comer who will need to be hatted, if you will step forward to the stool, Miss Withers, and place the hat on your head."

Jeszlinn gave him a suspicious look. She was wondering if this was some ritual humiliation.

"Ask it if you can be with us in Gryffindor," whispered Ace, giving her a little push. "You don't have to say so out loud, it reads your thoughts."

Jeszlinn went forward, trying not to cry with fear that it might still be something humiliating. The school was quiet.

The Hat snuggled down on her head.

" _We haven't had a Withers for some time," it said, conversationally. "Well, how splendid. I think you'll be an ornament to_ …" and out loud "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table cheered generously, as was the custom, even when they had no idea who she might be or why she was late; and Ace was beckoning her to come. Jeszlinn took off the hat and went over to her, and sat down where she had been sitting before.

"Does everyone do that?" she asked.

"Oh yes, it needs to know what house you are to be in," said Ace. "Oh good, here comes the feast, and it's almost an hour since I ate anything."

"Just as well; I hope your bluebell burps have run down," said Linnie. "I cannot see either the head or Madam McGonagall taking that lying down."

"I think so," said Ace. "Anyway, you need some digestion to get burps going and I'm so starving I think my insides are rubbing together."

"You're growing again," said Jasper Weasley.

"More than likely," said Ace. "Eat up, Jeszlinn; it isn't going away in a hurry, but if you don't nab the best stuff the boys will manage to stuff theirs down and go round again."

Jeszlinn had never seen so much food in her life; but she was not about to turn the offer to eat down!

And now she was a proper member of Gryffindor house, and would have to make sense of everything that the others had been trying to catch her up on!

But she was at school, and free, and they were going to let her stay!

oOo

Jeszlinn had a brief interview with the head, who basically asked her the same questions Iris and Harry had done, and told her that she would have remedial lessons on Saturdays until she caught up, and then took her the quick way – which made her feel a little queasy – back to London to buy kit.

"If people can come that way, why have a train?" she asked.

"Because the long train journey permits people to catch up with their friends, get rid of high spirits to be ready to buckle down and work, and air any problems that night need to go to the Marauders, the prefects, or even the staff," said David. "We've had kids whose parents fought and wounded them in the backlash; whose parents were so keen on them doing well they forced them to study more hours than was healthy; or the odd mother who had a new boyfriend who interfered with the child. I've known children who were interfered with as young as three years old, which is why the searching questions. And I suspect the brothel you come from is one that slipped through the cracks when Draco Malfoy was running to earth those who had supplied a pervert some years ago, when one of our girls was almost sold to him by her own mother."

"If my mother could sell me to a pervert to get the money to get out, she would," said Jeszlinn. "She don't like me much, account of how I spoiled her figure for her so she don't get the prime clients, and she have to take them ones that like to hurt or do weird things."

"I see," said David. "Is it your wish, then, that you become a ward of the school, and that I am your guardian with say in whether you stay at school or not, rather than your mother? I have to ask you formally."

"I'll say," said Jeszlinn. "I should say, yes please. If she has any say over whether I stay or go she'd have me back because she'll get a bonus when I'm first sold."

"I really do not like mothers who betray their children," said David, "But you won't be the first, nor likely the last."

"I didn't know it happened to posh kids," said Jeszlinn.

"It does," sighed David. "Often with a man who marries a widow or a woman whose husband absconded with a younger woman, just to get at her daughters. Only people don't speak about it. You can join the junior branch of the Society for Marginalised Women if you like; the school helps to support girls like you who need help to get away and who don't have the brains or willpower to demand education. You're one of the posh kids now, my dear; because you'll have the level of education that makes you one. Like your cousin Riker Shorg, who is going to be teaching. And I see Willow Prince-Black has been as prophetic as usual and has a wand waiting," he added as they entered Ollivander's.

"Gryffindor's Gryffindor," said Willow "but not in a bad way; oak, thirteen inches, gryphon's feather core. One of Godrica's as it happens," she added.

"That's nice, as the child is my ward," said David. "Godrica is a gryphon I, er, rescued, and she permits me to fly on her, Jeszlinn. I am glad you will have a feather of hers in your wand; she is a very special creature."

"Thank you," said Jeszlinn. "I … I will like to thank her."

"Now that," said David in satisfaction, "is very nice indeed."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I couldn't finish it in time for Yule, Madam Bacso, I am sorry," said Saxdred, weaving his long fingers together.

"Finish what, Saxdred?" asked Agata, half distracted by the thought that the children would arrive later that day.

"Well, you did say I could have the wood from the broken desks, and I bought some too…" said Saxdred. "I'm not doing this very well, am I?"

"No," said Agata. "Start again."

Saxdred drew a deep breath.

"Well, you been so good to me, and I had all that wood from when I started and had to get things mended, so in my off hours I thought I could make something for your office to say thank you. And…. Well, it's in my workroom if you'd care to come and see it, and if you like it, I can put it in your office and if not…. Well not."

"Saxdred, how kind, but there was no need," said Agata.

"Yes there was," said Saxdred. "And Frau Nagy von Freyer gave me permission to use the dungeon to do some metalwork for it, to make all the clockwork…"

Agata was intrigued, and was anticipating some kind of musical box.

She was not prepared for the beautiful cabinet, which as Saxdred lightly touched various parts of its decoration smoothly opened to make a writing desk, and various drawers and compartments that were totally concealed until the touch of a finger released the mechanisms that hummed and whirred gently to open them up. 1 Drawers appeared, and a bookstand folded out, cupboards revealed hidden compartments in the back of them, and Agata stood amazed at the elegance of the workings.

"It's all self-winding and resets itself when you push them back," said Saxdred. "It's all on counterweights, nothing to do except open and close. It's not as decorative as the sort of thing I used to make because I was limited with what I could get, and a veneer is never as good as the whole wood, but the beech for the desks is good beech, and Herr Nagy used a cutting spell for me as I don't have a saw to cut them fine enough. I used boxwood for stringing to put some decoration on it. I hope you don't think it's too plain?"

"I think it's beautiful, Saxdred," said Agata. "I wouldn't want too much decoration, the stringing is perfect, and so beautifully polished to bring out the grain! With years of abuse by children, one forgets that beech is a lovely wood. I – I am lost for words!"

"Shall I move it to your office then?" asked Saxdred, hopefully.

"Saxdred, you could raise a lot of money selling this, are you sure you want to give it to me? It is a princely gift!"

"It is a gift to a princess amongst women," said Saxdred.

"Then I am pleased to accept," said Agata. "And I can see that your talents are wasted. If… if I equip a workshop for you, will you be prepared to teach those pupils who are wishful to learn as a voluntary class? And perhaps I can also forward you a loan for materials so you can make such pieces as you wish, so you can satisfy your need to create, and earn from them too. And I'll see about another handyman as soon as I can so you can return to cabinet making."

"If it's all the same to you, Madam Bacso, I like being your handyman," said Saxdred. "I would love to show those who love wood how to make it sing to them, and how to turn metal into machine, and yes, to make things…. But I am happy doing odd jobs. I like to be busy, and it's a varied life."

"I have been wondering too if you would be insulted by a Yule gift from me," said Agata. "I would like to teach you spellcraft, and have you registered as a student, to hold wand, and teach you enough for the ZAP at least."

Saxdred took her hand and kissed it with deep respect.

"A gift for a gift. I…. I would be honoured to accept, Lady," he said.

oOo

Valda was happier than she had ever been. She had spent Yule with Adelard and his family, visiting Adelard's brother, and his wife and children, and meeting socially the goblin husband of Adelard's brother's sister-in-law, Franziska, and her half-sisters. Franziska was very sympathetic about inadequate fathers, and explained why there were half sisters. Wennie was treated like one of the family and not like an elf. It was marvellous.

Valda wondered if she had any half-sisters and brothers too. Perhaps Adelard could find out.

It was amazing to find out what family life was like, and Valda went and hugged all the Marauders.

"What was that for? Not that it isn't nice," laughed Daffodil.

"You have taught me how to be a person so I can enjoy meeting family," said Valda.

"I reckon there's a lot of parents who deserve Nurmengard for not doing right by their children," said Ilarion, darkly. "You're all right, Valda."

oOo

The Musical Marauders found themselves summoned to the head's office. They searched their consciences and found them worryingly squeaky clean, and promised to plot as soon as they found out what they were wanted for.

"If you lot are interested, Saxdred is going to be running informal classes in cabinet making," said Agata.

"Wow, brilliant!" said Sigismund. "Did he make that one, Aunt Agata?"

The children were fascinated when Agata gave them leave to play with her new toy, though Agata might have been disquieted to know that they later discussed the clever mechanisms in regard to the making of secret passages.

"I am considering copying the efforts of David Fraser at Hogwarts, in setting up a special sixth, for those people who would be happier learning practical and vocational studies rather than academic," said Agata, "though as he has done, I shall, where feasible, schedule the odd ZH alongside such study, or some study in vocational studies alongside ZHs, where I feel it would benefit an individual. Horticulture would be another option, rather than the somewhat stretching Herbology, and perhaps combined study options like Cursebreaking, and Healing, where students are able to focus their abilities on enough Arithmancy or Transfiguration for a specific course of study, without wishing to wrestle with calculus or Gamp's laws."

"Nothing wrong with Gamp's laws beyond them being a bit simplistic and sometimes able to be stepped around with a bit of casuistry and permanency charms," said Sigismund.

"Sigismund, has anyone ever mentioned that you're making comments that would have most ZH level students of Transfigurations throw their books at you?" asked Agata, mildly.

Sigismund grinned.

"Yes, Uncle Attila, heaps of times," he said. ""Because I was arguing with 'Transfigurations Today' about the limits of extrinsic conjuration by precision with Zoltan adding his two knuts worth as well."

"You're all unwholesomely clever," said Agata. "I thought a bit of cabinet making might add to your artistic endeavours, and might keep you out of mischief, to give Saxdred the practise in teaching."

"Sounds great fun!" said Beremud. "And I say, there's a lot of trades that use a little potioneering but other things too, like dyeing, which my father knows a lot about, and catering, and I guess an apothecary might like an assistant who can manage more than a ZP but who doesn't need to be able to brew Felix or Amortentia."

"Good points," said Agata. "I'll be talking more with Professor Fraser, but any thought you come up with, I'll certainly listen to."

"If you don't mind employing non humans, then Frau Kluba's assistants know a lot about practical horticulture," said Lindhard. "I take it that it's also to prepare people for the real world where they might be working alongside goblins?"

"That, too," said Agata. "I – to be honest, when Saxdred gave me this, I felt it wrong that he should be starved of the opportunity to do more, and it was a way I could see that I could offer it to him without damaging his pride, and I knew you reprobates would enjoy it."

"And anyone with any sense would buckle down and learn given the chance," said Bronislava. "It takes a long time to apprentice as a cabinet maker, and a couple of years start on that means earning real money sooner, because a good cabinet maker earns as much as a top flight curse breaker, and that's real money. And did we ought to keep him really and not pool resources to set him up in business?"

"What a nice child you are," said Agata, firmly keeping her eyebrow from shooting up as Sigismund took Bronislava's hand fondly. "I asked him that, and for some reason he enjoys the variety you little monkeys provide for him."

"Oh well, we can do odd jobs for him to help him make a bit on the side," said Beryx.

"And add musical enchantments for him," said Corneliu, "so that some things only open for those of perfect pitch who whistle say three notes."

"I imagine he'd be fascinated," said Agata.

"And cases for instruments with self-protective charms built in too," said Zoltan, dragging himself away from an image of a secret door that opened to a passage on the right piece of music, but otherwise opened to a passage beside it that led to an oubliette.

"Indeed," said Agata. "Anyway, I shan't keep you all from the feast any longer."

"Thank you, Aunt Agata!" they all chorused.

Agata was not sure she appreciated being adopted collectively, but shrugged. They were all close to her son, and she had become very fond of all of them.

oOo

"Oh well, at least the wretched task will be quite soon, and then that's all over until term is essentially done," said Zyrillis. "Once that's out of the way I can concentrate on schoolwork."

"Laugh it up; it's not as though you have ZHs to do," said Xanthippe.

"No, but if I can't keep up as I go along I'll have to do some work next year which would be a tragedy," said Zyrillis.

"Of course, being Zyrillis, he's going to be working hard both years," said Wencelada.

"Hush, you'll spoil my mystique," said Zyrillis.

"I don't know what you mean," said Harald Trollkettil, "You don't have exams this year that are blighted for the rest of us by your parading yourself, and you aren't even in the upper sixth. Disgraceful, I call it, and this competition is a waste of time."

"Well it would be a waste of time if you were the only person we could offer," said Xanthippe. "Because the wet fools of Hellibores would manage to make you look an ass, excuse me, more of an ass."

Harald went for his wand, which was a foolish idea because Xanthippe just laughed at him and turned her back, which was even worse than if she had jinxed him back.

"Trollkettil," said Alexand, "You know you aren't good enough to be chosen, and you should have known from the first you were not; you chose to go along so you chose to waste your time. Genauschüren isn't taking you on future jaunts, so your time is not taken up with the competition, so don't complain. And really, haven't you learned that trying to jinx the Owlglasses is a bad idea? Either one of them is better than you. And Xanthippe, top marks for not being drawn into fighting, but manners!"

"I don't have any; ask Xanthe," said Xanthippe.

"That's why I'm not taking her to the next task," said Zyrillis, cheerfully. "She's as bad as Zlatko and we'd probably have an international incident."

"Scarily I can believe that," said Alexand.

oOo

The sleek, expensive governor named Von Gildenstern, smiled sleekly and fatuously at Agata.

"I am concerned about this Triwizard causing disruption to your examination students," he said. "I wanted to speak privately with one or two, whom I shall select at random, so that I may be certain that they do not feel oppressed by this."

"I cannot permit you to speak privately with them," said Agata, "That would be most improper, especially the girls."

"But Frau Bacso, if they do not feel private and comfortable, they might give answers they think you would like to hear; surely you can see that?"

Agata frowned.

"I have had no official communication from the board that any of the other governors feel any kind of disquiet. Eduard Von Frettchen was quite keen for the school to be a part of the contest."

Herr Von Gildenstern laughed a patronising laugh and waved a hand.

"Oh, Von Frettchen!" he said. "I believe the British call his attitude 'gung ho', and how it suits him!"

"Then I think you have misread him, or he would not have survived the rise and fall of Odessa," said Agata. "I will permit you to speak to those children who wish to do so at one end of the Great Hall; I will seat myself at the other end. I am sure you are capable of a spell to permit private conversation, and will assure them of that. I think it quite a ridiculous matter; those young people who consider it a waste of time will tell you so quite frankly whether I am there or not. And doubtless one young person will tell you it is a waste of time since he was not the one chosen and he hoped – the definite triumph of hope over experience – to be chosen."

Agata introduced Herr Von Gildenstern to the Upper Sixth, who had seen him often enough, but never spoken to him.

"I would like to speak to you – you – you – you – you and you," he said, pointing to Alexand, Vighard, Scholastica, Yorick, Xanthippe and Adolph. Harald looked outraged at not being chosen.

They shrugged over this waste of their time, and followed him to the great hall, where he was at pains to explain about using a muffling spell.

"But why bother, sir?" said Vighard. "None of us have anything to hide. We all know that in some respects this competition is a total waste of time in this day and age, when there is not outright war between the schools; but that it yet serves other purposes that make a bit of time wasting quite acceptable."

"My dear boy! You may be quite forthright, but perhaps others are shyer," and Von Gildenstern, and he smiled at Xanthippe and Scholastica.

"Not me," said Xanthippe. "I think it's a hoot, but then I always knew I was never in with a chance to be chosen because there are two people better than me, and one possibly potentially more capable. I resent not having Quidditch, I must say, but one must fulfil those other purposes; serious purpose supersedes the fun of sport."

"Er, I see," said Von Gildenstern. "Well, perhaps you two, er, outspoken young people will like to answer some specific questions for me first? And we will keep it private, as a matter of keeping it all alike."

Xanthippe rolled her eyes but sat down and permitted him to ask her questions. Apparently he had irritated her as his next fart was highly coloured as it oozed out of the chair.

Xanthippe got up and came out of the silencing zone and nodded to Vighard.

"Fatuous tripe," she said.

"'Thippe, what if the silence is only one way?" asked Vighard.

"Well, it's still fatuous tripe, whether the idiot can hear me or not," said Xanthippe. "I can't think why Eduard has to have such a fool on the board of governors."

"Eduard is a great man and likes to keep pets," said Vighard, who decided that if the fellow was going to be annoyed, he might as well join Xanthippe in being annoying.

Von Gildenstern saw Adolph, Yorick and Alexand next, in that order and Alexand went in to the muffled zone, made a comment, and walked out.

"I told him that the only time wasted was his time-wasting, and as Head Boy I had better things to do than hang around at the convenience of some officious twaddle-merchant," he said to Scholastica, pitching his voice loud enough for Agata to overhear.

Agata was pleased. Alexand was not so flamboyant as Zlatko, but he had the measure of this fool, and was not afraid to tell the fellow so. Zlatko would probably have given him asses ears.

Scholastica sat and earnestly answered questions, and Von Gildenstern leaned forward and appeared to be asking for more. Agata frowned. Scholastica was a quiet girl, like her sister, but neither one was shy about giving their opinion if asked. If anything, Scholastica was the more forceful of the two, though Desolina had learned a lot.

Scholastica's chair went back suddenly with what would have been an awful scraping noise had it not been muffled. Agata winced; Saxdred would need to polish that out.

And as Scholastica came upright, Von Gildenstern transfigured into an enormous penis, his legs being the testicles and silly little arms protruded above them. Scholastica stormed out, and Agata ran to the girl who cast herself into her arms.

"Oh! Frau Bacso! He has tried to use the Imperious Curse on me!" cried Scholastica. "He said he had noticed me when the governors last visited, and that as I was only Italian I should have trouble doing well after school, the cabbage-eating creep! And that he could help me if I was nice to him! And when I asked what he meant, he said he had chosen me as his mistress, and when I told him that it was in his dreams, he – he cast the Imperious Curse! I am glad that we resist the Unforgivable Curses in the ECC, for he is quite foul!"

The genitalia was wobbling out of the area of silence.

"Look what this disturbed girl has done to me!" the face on the end of it managed. "Have me restored immediately, Frau Bacso, and have her committed to an insane ward!"

"On the contrary, Von Gildenstern," said Agata, coldly. "Of the two of you, I know who to believe, and it is for the Vehmgerichten I am sending, to take away a man who uses unforgivable curses. Even if you cast without wand, the echo of it will be held in that exclusion zone of yours. And in the meantime you look disgustingly like your own thoughts and need a condom."

It was a twist on the _incarcerous_ spell that enveloped the spluttering genitalia in a purple strait jacket.

"An enthusiastic response, Scholastica, my dear, but why that form?"

"He was delving into my thoughts and I was getting echoes of what he was thinking and that was what he was so that was what I made him," said Scholastica, a little incoherently. "It was assimilative correlation by association." Scholastica had hunches more than Divinational ability, but Agata did not, any more, discount hunches. And what she saw may well have been a projection of the man's lustful thoughts.

"Well, well, under the circumstances it seems meet," said Agata. "Come and have a cup of schnapps coffee, my dear; I think you need it."

Scholastica was happy to be soothed, and was ready to give a firm and coherent deposition to the Vehmgericht who was sent, and declared herself willing to have legilimensy or veritaserum used.

Von Gildenstern was about to be thoroughly investigated, and the status of any other mistresses he might have looked into.

oOo

The story got about, of course, and Harald declared that he knew there was something fishy about the fellow.

"Which is why you were leading off about not being one chosen to give your views," said Xanthe, who could only take so much. "I don't think it was your body he was interested in, so if I was you, I'd stop bellyaching."

"A school governorship is up for grabs," said Vighard. "Why don't we petition the Ferret to ask Baron Von Freyer?"

"Good thought," said Xanthe. "Unless it ought to be more representative of non German people."

"Heh, I had a brilliant idea," said Xanthippe. "Viktor Krumm!"

"I like," said Xanthe. "Carried everyone? Good."

oOo

The Jade Fag Marauders and Musical Marauders were most impressed by Scholastica's Assimilative Correlation, and told her so. Scholastica laughed, and said that it seemed to be a good idea at the time.

"I think that's the informal definition of Assimilative Correlation by Association," laughed Leva.

"It is now," agreed Zoltan.

The four older ones took it upon themselves to animate a papyrus of hieroglyphic phalli, which the Musical Marauders set to music and enchanted it to play while the animation ran.

Scholastica blushed but declared she would frame it as a prized possession.

1 Inspired by this

themetapicture[dotcom]/this-antique-cabinet/


	4. Chapter 4

_I have been asked about the meerkats; to non British readers, google 'compare the meerkat' and take your pick, there should be youtube footage of the original ads. Just enjoy.  
_

 **Chapter 4**

"Jade, I just had one of my funny turns!" said Berthold, urgently, as he skidded to a halt, early for the train from Berlin Zoological Gardens.

"Get your breath back," said Jade, recognising Marauder business in his use of her name. "It's no good if I can't tell what you're saying for panting."

Berthold nodded; it did not take him long to get his wind back, being as fit as any of the children who ran with the ECC.

"It's that idiot Wilga; someone kidnapped her as she was about to get on the train to Berlin," he said, "and some of the kidnap divinations fell into place, it's about her, not the Triwizard."

"Doxy droppings!" said Jade. "Apparate to the school and go see if she left anything like a hairbrush or… or something we can get a ritual on and you, Ebert, Mava and Ulvik and anyone else who turns up will have to do a finding on her." She named those First Eagle Marauders who were there, for having come from the castle.

"Yes, Jade!" said Berthold, and he promptly apparated away.

"Who'd want to kidnap her?" said Ulvik. "I'd pay to have someone take her away."

"Ulvik, don't be a poor prune," said Jade, distracted. "This is about us taking her father's underage girls away, I expect; someone wants revenge."

"I hadn't thought of that," said Ulvik, going red with embarrassment.

"We may need to move fast to protect her from… someone using her," said Mava, who had enough experience of life to think of things like that. Ulvik's birth parents had done their best to protect him.

Berthold returned.

"I've got a draught of a letter she was writing to her father and crushed up and shoved in a drawer; will that do?"

"Should do nicely," said Jade. "Oh here's Klemens; good. Five is arithmantically better, you lot go through the barrier and get on with the ritual. Link up. It's a shame you don't have Ria but none of you are bad at Geomancy."

The Marauders, who had pulsed Klemens as he was in Berlin, sorely missed their fellows who were still on their way to the station, but linked with absent friends anyway, and promptly caused the conniptions of several escorts as the others apparated in to join them.

"The more the merrier," said Ulvik.

They went to work, feeling the personality of Wilga gan Heran in her incoherent but impassioned part letter to her father.

"Poor kid is well muddled," said Ulvik.

"Well don't bellyache on about it all day or she'll be well addled," said Mava, tersely. Ulvik gave her a hug; he knew she was imagining it happening.

It did not take long for them to get a fix.

"Do we apparate there?" said Saxburra.

"And just grab her and bring her here? Yes," said Ulvik.

"I can locate by feel now," said Ria.

They apparated smoothly as a ring, and arrived, surrounding the terrified Wilga who was in the process of having her clothes burned off by a snarling wizard. They left him bound, vomiting slugs, farting, and with purple frogs sporting added tentacles pouring out of his nose, as several spells managed to get combined, and took Wilga directly to Jade.

Wilga was sobbing hysterically.

Jade gathered the little girl into her arms, and Biirta dropped a curtsey and asked,

"Would you like me supervising the train, or shall I take her to her father? She should be at home to get over this."

"I'll take her," said Jade. "You see to getting everyone packed onto the train. Wulf is going to deal with your prisoner, you kids; nice job, even if I did expect you to call me, not deal with it yourselves."

"We managed," said Ulvik.

"You did. Nice job; don't get cocky," said Jade, disapparating with the sobbing Wilga.

"Poor little kid," said Biirta, "she's a bit of a pill, but really, she has every excuse!"

oOo

Jade was back as the last stragglers arrived at the station and beckoned Biirta and the First Eagle Marauders.

"Wilga's in the hospital at Schloss Adler, under a sleeping draught," she said, "And how long it'll be before she's back in school I don't know. Her bastard of a father disowned her, because he wouldn't take my word that she wasn't spoiled goods. He said he would let her work for him if she wanted, forsooth!"

"And how hard did you hit him?" asked Ulvik.

"Hard enough to knock two teeth out," said Jade, nursing her right hand with grim satisfaction. "The poor kid screamed and said that she was his little girl, his princess, and that she was only a bit burned, but the bastard wasn't having any of it. Backhanded her when she ran to him. THAT was when I hit him. And I've got the elves rifling through to take all her clothes for her; no reason she shouldn't have what's been given to her. And now I feel no constraint about taking the horrid creature down entirely, which I had when his daughter was a charge of ours. And as the law there doesn't care about the fate of half goblins and one more goblin brothel owner, they won't care about me ruining him with not entirely scrupulous methods."

"What are you going to do?" asked Biirta.

"Leave him as the only female in his bloody brothel," said Jade. "As soon as I've organised with Ernestine Gregg to take on a few more girls to train to be 'naice refained liydies' with exotic accents. And if any of them want to know what happened to the little ones, I'll get them involved in Narcissa's program for helping the helpless."

"That could work," said Biirta, "and people like Magda and Ann can run one here."

"Good thinking!" said Jade.

"And I'll have the child with stuff set by the staff in my office, and I'll help her," said Biirta. "She can keep up without having to face the others until she feels able. Doing work will keep her from brooding."

"Definitely born to be a Malfoy," said Jade.

oOo

In the event, Jade did not perform any nefarious transfigurations on Heran; because the law in that region needed shaking up. Instead she arranged to have him sued for abandonment on behalf of his daughter and reckless child endangerment on behalf of his juvenile ex-whores, because once he had been brought down by a civil suit or several, the authorities almost had to take notice. And after betraying his daughter in so cruel a way, Jade had no hesitation in making sure that he was going to suffer, having only held back before for Wilga's sake.

oOo

In the excitement, Jade had quite forgotten that there were to be two new members of the third year, and groaned when Zaly Czerny presented his newest brother, Zsombor and young Irenke Black.

Zsombor's face closed at the groan, and Jade hastily apologised.

"I'd forgotten we had new ones," she said, "I'm sorry, my children, I should have been more welcoming, we just had a kidnap attempt on one of the kids and I'm a little frazzled."

"Who on earth was kidnapped and why?" asked Zaly.

"Wilga; by one of her blasted father's wretched clients," said Jade, tersely. "And he's disowned her, poor brat, so be nice to her. Crime lords like Kordach are one thing, being a step removed from the sleaze, but a pimple of a pimp like that is just the end. Well, I shall hand you two into the able care of the First Eagle Marauders, as you'll be in their class."

"There were a group who called themselves Marauders at Durmstrang," said Zsombor.

"Yes, all Marauders are in contact with each other," said Jade, "and all Marauders give second chances. They know you've had a rotten time, both of you, and will be decent to you."

Zsombor was unsure about that; but the friendly camaraderie of the Marauders here was what he suddenly realised he had been so jealous about, which was why he had bullied Zoltan Nagy, and he found himself imparting this information to the cheerful group of youngsters.

"Well, we don't know yet if you and Irenke will be Marauders, but I think you might have what it takes," said Ulvik, and the others nodded. "Hang with us and we'll see."

Irenke was certainly keen; seeing half goblins walking tall, and plainly on equal terms with humans and goblins was a revelation, and she vowed she would do well to please her new adoptive family.

"Please, will Herr and Frau Black approve of this Marauding?" she asked.

Ulvik laughed.

"Frau Black is a Marauder – the first elf Marauder – and Herr Black is an honorary Marauder because his former master is one of the first ever Marauders," he assured her. Irenke was happy, and vowed to persuade Zsombor to do whatever they had to, to be accepted!

oOo

Wilga meanwhile was certain that the world had ended. She was not spoiled goods but her father treated her as though she was. And now she was essentially to be an orphan like all those she despised! She cried herself almost into a fever after the sleeping draft wore off, and under due consideration, after a cuddle, Jade eased her back to sleep again. When Wilga woke up, Biirta was sitting with her, quietly sewing.

"B-Biirta?" said Wilga. "Did you KNOW that was going to happen? You sort of hinted that things might not always be good for me."

"No, I didn't know," said Biirta, "but I know what people like your father are like, and I feared you might find yourself in a situation that had him decide you might no longer be his princess. Mostly, however, I wanted you to try and see what it was like from the point of view of the other little girls. I would never have wished onto you something as awful as this, I assure you. Being betrayed by a grownup you trust is about the worst thing that can happen."

"Have you been?" asked Wilga.

"Yes, though not in the same way, and I forgive my father for his weakness," said Biirta. "He couldn't cope when Mama died, and he killed himself. I was a little younger than you. My brother and sister and I ended up in the Berlin Orphanage, treated as scum and criminals for the crime of having no parents and no close relatives who would take us on. Then? Then when I got older, the Orphanage Director believed that the girls he fancied were his own private brothel, which is in a way like someone who should be a father figure using you. I was lucky, in and odd way; I had a horrible birthmark, so I escaped that. The Frau Baronin fixed it, when I started here, if you were wondering. Other girls I was friendly with were not so lucky; I told you about Magda. So I feel a LOT of fellow feeling for those little girls, from Magda's experiences, and I am really pleased that the Marauders got to you before you learned too much fellow feeling with them. No little girl should have to go through that."

"How old was Magda?"

"Nearly fourteen. And it shouldn't happen really to an adult who doesn't want it to either for that matter."

"Can – can I talk to the – the other girls? The halfbreeds?" asked Wilga.

"I think it would be a very good idea," said Biirta. "I tell you what; I'll ask if Frau Kirsch, who is adopting two, sisters, will have you for a few days, and will take you as well to meet the other two. She's a lovely person, and very kind."

"She – she's adopting halfbreeds?"

"She's not such a poor prune that she cares, and Kristel and Kornelia have met the girls and are happy to have them for sisters," said Biirta. "They seem nice children, the children of a married couple who unfortunately died, and the little girls essentially kidnapped and sold to your father. The other two girls are not related; one of them was kept as a slave to her family, her mother having been raped, and sold when she was old enough by your father's standards; she's a bit poor spirited, which is hardly surprising, but I'm sure Safraxa's parents will help her overcome that. The last was the personal toy of that man who had you and she has wand burns in worse places than you do, and hers untreated until the Frau Baronin decursed the wounds. Wand burning is a cursed wound, you know."

"It hurts!" cried Wilga.

"Yes, so I know you'll be a good girl and really kind to Mechta, who has been hurt so badly, time after time after time in the same way – and she's just a year older than you, now. She was hardly any older when it started. Gundi, the one who was sold, is only your age," said Biirta, rubbing it in. "And to men who do that sort of thing, they don't much care if you're a pure blood goblin of good standing, a pure blood witch with a von to her name or a halfbreed. If you're a little girl and in their power and they can get away with it, that's all they care about."

Wilga cried again.

"Kornelia doesn't like me," she said.

"Well, if you hadn't sneaked up the Marauders quite so often, and hadn't spread all sorts of silly lies because you didn't understand anything but the rather skewed and foolish view your father taught you, she might not have disliked you," said Biirta. "But I am sure you will find her willing to be kind to another little girl who has had a nasty experience, and perhaps you can tell her that you didn't really understand much about life, and that you want to learn."

"Everything is topsy-turvey," complained Wilga.

"Well, a week or so with the Kirsch family may help," said Biirta, and went to suggest this to Jade. Frau and Herr Kirsch were excellent people who, if Wilga was explained to them, would generously open their home to her, so long as she did not upset their fragile, adoptive daughters. And under the shock she had received, Wilga was more likely to be receptive and less likely to make trouble.

Jade thought it an excellent idea and talked very fast to Herr and Frau Kirsch. Wilga left school for what turned out to be a fortnight in the end, and returned in plenty of time to see Biirta at the next task, still somewhat subdued, but perhaps happier, because she said to Kornelia,

"Your parents are nice, and they give people time and cuddles not things. I hope you realise how lucky you are!"

"I do," said Kornelia. "And… and I guess you can stay with us some holidays, only not if you go back to telling lies about people."

"I never meant to tell lies! I – life isn't what I thought it was," said Wilga.

"Oh, that's all right then. Only just remember to verify rumours before spreading them," said Kornelia. She frowned thoughtfully. "Unless, I suppose, it's someone nasty and you can better make people realise he's nasty by spreading false rumours than the real nasty stuff he does. Because people are really daft, and some of them who haven't seen that all races are the same don't care what happens to other sorts of people than themselves."

Wilga reddened.

She had also seen how Sabacc and Beric had sneered at those of their communities who had made unpleasant comments about them taking on half goblin daughters; though in Kobboldsheim that had only been one family who considered themselves better than the rest, and who lived peripherally to the mining village, being traders. And the English part goblin schoolteacher and engineer there had pointed out that he had an apparating licence and could always get goods elsewhere so the traders became superfluous.

That family had also been quite grovellingly servile to the pure blood witch and wizard that were the Kirsches; and that they, too, had adopted part-blood children was not something the blood snob goblins cared to comment about.

Wilga had learned a lot from Emese and Elfriede, who had not been backward in coming forward about what they thought of her father and his assumptions that people of mixed race must be easy. Wilga, having discovered that he made assumptions about her too had cried and declared that she disowned him, because he wasn't fair about any girls. When she found out that the parents of the new Kirsch sisters had loved them and that the behaviour of Frau and Herr Kirsch towards their children was not strange and wonderful to them, Wilga had finally, deep down, begun to recognise that she had no sort of a father at all, and to finally truly believe all that Biirta had been telling her.

Wilga was not big enough to apologise to anyone she had spread rumours about, but she was, at least, beginning to grasp the realities of life. And the Valentine Marauders concealed any grimaces they might pull in private and set out – at Biirta's request – to make a project of looking after Wilga. They even involved her – a trifle unwillingly – in a piece of Marauding Mischief. They were stunned by the efforts of the Prince Peak first years in enchanting Dolokhov's chair, but were aware that none of them sported the Arithmantic virtuosity to emulate this, despite being a year older. They were, however, serious, if not talented chanters; and included in their number some quite competent enchanters too; and managed to pull off an enchantment on the chairs in the Great Hall that would play music when sat upon. Deciding the tune had occasioned quite a lot of heated discussion, and the retrieval of a number of ears and eyebrows, since even those who were poor at transfiguration had no idea that switching spells were Transfigurational and therefore approached them with the spirit of corridor curses and no stress over managing them. Wilga, who would have been terrified to have her ears removed and attached to the bed post or anything else, suggested loudly a goblin jig would be appropriate, and as the jape was in the spirit of cheering her up, this idea was enthusiastically adopted.

Breakfast next morning was noisy, and not especially tuneful, as the conspirators had not thought to make the chairs pick up the tunes at the same point, so all were out of phase with each other in a cacophony that sounded, as Jade later complained, as though the whole of the fey were on the rampage.

Wulf serenely cancelled the spells and called for culprits; and as the Valentine Marauders rose, Wilga, after hesitating, did so too.

Wulf smiled at her.

"Good girl!" he said. "I presume the unholy row was something to do with cheering Wilga up?"

Yrmiot curtseyed.

"Yes, sir," she said. "We didn't know they'd all go off at different points in the tune."

"Not so much that they all went off at different points, you good asses, but that they all went off at the same point instead of picking up the burden of the tune at the point already reached by those set off first," said Wulf. "Well, you will cover that in due course in chanting; if you wish to read ahead it's in 'Intermediate Chanting', which is in the library. As it was a, er, species of cheering charm, and hurts nobody except the musical, I'm not going to set a punishment, but I'm sure those of your peer group who did not enjoy having the music from hell will let you know all about it."

They sat down, not especially chastened.

"It was funny," said Wilga. "Thanks."

"We'll do better next time we do anything with music," said Kornelia. "Crumbs, who'd think that it couldn't find its own level as you might say?"

oOo

Robert Spikenard was busy re-evaluating all the Divinational evidence of his diviners, since Berthold had realised that some of it had referred to Wilga; he was still finding an intent to kidnap but nothing serious happening. It might be assumed that Professor Snape had all well in hand. Robert had only had a relatively short time at school with Professor Snape, before the Potions Master had left to be Headmaster of Prince Peak, and he found it impossible to imagine how any blood snobs or supremacists would even dare to contemplate kidnapping anyone who were under Professor Snape's care. It seemed remarkably suicidal to Robert, who might not have gutted horned toads himself, but he had heard stories. Robert had never been as regular attendant of the MSHG as he now was of the ECC; but then he had felt tired a lot of the time when he was growing, and had hated quitting his bed at the best of times. He might regret that now, but he had not been privy to knowing Severus as the other, more assiduous, members came to know him, and still went in some lively nervousness of the grim visaged wizard! However, Robert never doubted the ability of Professor Snape, nor the Divination team of Prince Peak, and saw the signs that no harm was likely to be done through kidnap that this was well in hand. The idea of someone being sent to the evanesco place was still gruesomely real, however, and he tentatively contacted Miss Gimlet by floo.

"We don't have anything terribly positive either," the Prince Peak Divination Professor admitted, "we think it might be an action not yet determined and only likely if tempers are lost for some reason. Severus is mustering relatives of all the goblin and part goblin competitors or those of their loved ones who have goblin blood, in order to use a ritual of finding if it occurs."

Robert nodded. He had no idea how such a ritual might be accomplished – he considered a ritual of finding in the same space-time continuum hard enough – but if anyone knew, Professor Snape would. And if he did not, well, doubtless Jade Snape did. Or anyone surnamed Snape. He had always had a healthy respect for Jade's abilities in the time he knew her at Hogwarts!

oOo

Biirta thought that she had sat firmly on the story Wilga had managed to come up with, regarding the twins that Magda and Ritter were adopting. However, she came upon Oskar Wurtzel, a fellow upper sixth, whom she would have dubbed 'mostly harmless' asking Gauda if Magda had a part goblin boyfriend who had misbehaved with her, that she had given birth in the holiday, and wouldn't it be better if Magda had got married to him first as the Heads were flexible. Gauda looked lost for words.

"Oskar," said Biirta, "Where did you hear this crap?"

Oskar flushed.

"It's not crap, with due respect, Biirta; I have seen Magda with babies and she referred to herself as 'Mama' when talking to them, and they have ears like goblins," he said. "I wondered if it was why she didn't want to go for the Triwizard, as she has responsibilities, and obviously the heads sanction it, and I thought it so sweet but that she and whichever of the boys it is really ought to be married."

"You are a poor prune to add two and two and come up with twenty-two from it," said Biirta, amicably. "Magda is marrying a man who has adopted the twins, because they have no reasonable parent, and are the children of someone he feels responsibilities towards, because of certain ties of honour, without considering this person a suitable mother. They are not his, before you ask. As Magda will be their stepmother, she wants them to know her from the first, although she cannot marry her fiancé until after she leaves school. Now I know it's a bit careless of her to let people overhear, but perhaps she thought she was safe from gossip from her own form. I should have hoped that she would be."

"Oh!" said Oskar. "I did not mean to gossip, though I do love to know what's going on. Magda is such a nice girl, I would not want anyone making issue about her having children. But if they are adopted… why, what a lovely couple to take on other people's children before they are even married! It's so romantic!"

"Yes," said Biirta. "They are a lovely couple."

She went to find Magda.

"Mags, you are, I think, going to have to tell people that you are adopting Friedolf and Philomela," she said bluntly. "I sat on Wilga for gossiping at the beginning of the year, but now Oskar has seen you playing with babies and has been asking questions, and it's better if you tell the school, before someone writes home that one of human girls in the sixth has been catting around with one of the goblin boys, which is the conclusion both Wilga and Oskar jumped to, though at least Oskar assumed you were involved romantically long term."

"Oh dear!" said Magda. "Well, I will, then, but Ritter should not have people stare at him."

"I told both that your betrothed was waiting for you to leave school and I told Wilga he was a friend of your guardian, which is true enough, so you don't need to tell them who."

"Oh Bii, you are clever at thinking of things that aren't quite lies!" said Magda, gratefully.

Biirta firmly coached her in how to present it, and Magda asked at tea to be allowed to say a few words. Wulf waved permission, and Magda looked round.

"I don't like gossip," she said. "I have heard that a few people have wondered about the origins of the babies who are being adopted by my betrothed husband and me. And as the female who is their mother is not a suitable parent, and who knows who sired them, I would like the rumours to stop, please, so that they may grow up without knowing the worst. One day we will do a ritual to make them blood of our blood, and drive out any bad blood they may carry. Upbringing counts for more than blood in any case. I want them to think of me as their mother so they know nothing but love. One day they will have siblings, when I have children of my own, but in the meantime, I love them as though they were my own. My husband to be is a man of honour who felt he could not leave them with their birth mother, as in some respects she is a dependent of his. When she has served her sentence he will attempt rehabilitation. If she will accept it," she added, suddenly inspired. Jade meant to release the former director from her female half-goblin form after she had worn it for three years, and to imply the twins' mother was in Nurmengard covered a lot of questions. "As this person has offended against me in the past, my say in the upbringing of her children is by way of atonement."

Most of them would not really understand; but hopefully it would scotch some rumours before they began.

The general rumour that circulated came from the fertile brain of Manfred Schliemann, who declared solemnly that doubtless it had something to do with someone offending against Magda by splitting her apart from her other family so that it had taken some time for her guardian, Duke Eduard Von Frettchen, to find her, and doubtless her husband to be was a suitable young man chosen by Von Frettchen himself.

This was not too bad a rumour, and when Biirta heard it, she sighed but did not bother to quash it. Sometimes fiction was more believable than the truth.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

An enterprising Swiss goblin entrepreneur had come up with the idea of action figures of the Triwizard champions of each school, and had applied to Severus for a licence to trade at the Zurich train station to the Prince Peak children, whilst awaiting a licence to trade in other centres of shopping in Europe.

He never knew how closely he and his factory and toys were investigated by Severus, who had more reason than most to be paranoid, and who wanted to make sure that the figures were just that, figures, and not some poisoned booby trap for his pupils. As the figures were well-made, and fairly realistic, Severus merely pointed out that it was customary to ask permission of those who were being represented but that he would do his best to attain that permission from all of those who were over seventeen, and of the parents of those who had not yet turned seventeen.

"I suppose there'll be a fee?" said the entrepreneur.

"I'm going to talk very fast and see if I can't get the fee waived in favour of … ten per cent of your profits from it put aside to fund scholarships to one of the schools that takes goblins," said Severus. "Because any of the free schools would be ready to take pupils from other countries if their kit was covered."

"It's a deal, if you can swing it," said the goblin.

Severus was fairly certain he could swing it; he knew all the contestants and their parents, save Aglaia, and he doubted if she would ever even be aware of such toys. Or if she became aware it would be because her little sister had bought some, and that would soften her towards the idea.

Consequently, the children of the Peak were busy in a collecting mood, and Yrdl bought as many Aglaias as she could, which puzzled her contemporaries, many of whom were collecting everyone except Aglaia.

"It's an investment," said Yrdl, calmly as AHHa stared. "You see, less people are buying them, and so there will be less made, which will make them collector's items in the future. Especially if she throws a hissy fit when she finds out about them."

"My girl's head is screwed on tight," said Crow.

AHHa debated making a quick and coarse comeback to this and decided it would be a bad idea. Yrdl was not Triwizard champion of the school for nothing, and he fancied he might learn what it was to be struck by a selection of creatively combined jinxes.

"Wise move," said Silvina, as he shut his mouth. "I'd have helped."

AHHa decided that this was probably more the omniscience even adopted Snapes seemed to acquire not legilimensy and decided to take his seat on the train with as much dignity as he could muster, and keep his mouth shut. In which he proved to be finally learning some wisdom!

oOo

Severus was busy investigating a selection of sweeties sent to 'those who jinxed Dolokhov' from a variety of sources; most had signed their names to the gifts, though Scarpin's Revelaspell was something Severus employed ruthlessly in any case. Two were anonymous. Severus tested both, and discovered that the one with the card saying "I dislike the pig, your ritual is impeccable" was innocuous enough – unless one considered the concept of overdosing on chocolate – and the other, which was "from a wellwisher" was more full of poison than chocolate. Severus had every intention of finding out who had sent that one and sending it back, preferably with a ritual that placed all the poisoned sweeties right inside the sender's belly, but first he had the problem of about forty boxes of sweets for eight little boys. He sent for them.

"Has the Russian Ministry complained about the durak, sir?" asked Falk.

"No, but someone sent you poisoned sweeties," said Severus.

"WOW, sir, that makes us serious fighters against dark wizards if they take us that seriously!" said Zenz.

"Yes, but at your age, that's not necessarily a matter for rejoicing," said Severus, severely. "Bear in mind to use the revelaspell on ALL unexpected gifts. I've done it for you, and I'm wondering how to deal with forty boxes of sweeties for you from well-wishers that are not poisoned."

"Oh dear! WHAT a lot of thank you letters to write!" said Radagas in dismay.

Severus beamed on him.

"I am delighted to have such nice manners that this is your first thought," he said. "I suggest you each write five thank you letters and all sign all of them."

They brightened.

"Brilliant!" said Rainer. "May we keep a box each to share out with the rest of the school and give the rest to the orphanage?"

"Wizzer idea!" said Ambrose. The others were nodding.

"I believe I have one of the nicest groups of proto marauders ever here," said Severus. "It shall be so. You may have first pick of the sweeties, and you may tell your donors that you enjoyed them more for being able to share them with friends. I know finding things to say on thank you letters is often hard."

Ambose chuckled.

"It's harder when it's one of those crazy aunts who always sends socks a size too small," he said. "Though Aunt Diana is a much better aunt than that, and her presents are always pretty unusual and fun. She's the only person I know to have bought a house elf to pamper her kneazle and Suellen – the elf – is quite as pampered too, or dad would have fallen out with her. Suellen needed rescuing, but it's a long story."

"Hmm well, she sounds an interesting aunt to have," said Severus. "Very well; pick a box each from the pile there, and here are the cards that came with them. And then you can run along."

They picked sweeties and ran.

oOo

Fagia, the beech-tree wood-nymph was chatting to Valerie Burdock.

"I think I should like to take NEWT in Herbology," said Fagia. "I've been sitting in on classes for ages, and if I have a qualification, then when you move on or die, I could teach here and repay the kindness the staff has always shown me."

Valerie knew better by now than to resent the assumption that she, a young woman, was going to die at some point; Fagia was not many years older than Valerie, but would live as long as her beech tree, some three hundred years. It really made good sense to consider that.

"I wasn't planning on moving in the near future," said Valerie, "but of course, I might get married and want a job near to where my husband works, or teach alongside him if I marry a teacher."

"Just what I was thinking," said Fagia. "You humans cling to a single partner of the opposite sex – or in Professor Snape's case, three of them – in the same way we cling to our trees. I have listened in on enough lectures from other staff to have formulated the theory that we are split somewhat from the fey by choosing the substance we gain from our trees over other, more dubious, means; which I think is much nicer."

"I agree, and I think you should debate it with the postgraduate students and Professor Snape too," said Valerie. "It's an interesting hypothesis and I consider it a very sound one, from what I know. Such that your need for companionship with a particular tree has taken the place of the norm of many other beings to seek companionship from a lifelong mate?"

"Yes," said Fagia. "And I also have to accept that my daughter who grows beside me may, one day, when she is at school here, choose to cleave to a human boy, and have her tree moved. And maybe her daughters grow up….treeless." her voice trembled.

"People have free will," said Valerie, "and you are brave to accept that."

Phyllis Beech was now six years old and could emerge from her sapling to play with the younger staff children, being of an age with Merope Snape, and a couple of years younger than Penelope Weasley, Remus Snape and Lily Snape and a year older than Sirius Weasley, and enough older than the smaller children of the castle to look down on them as babies. Merope preferred to play with Phyllis, who was a willing crony, rather than with Penelope, who used the two years start she had in age to be bossy, and took what opportunities she could to interfere in the games of the younger ones, rather than be bossed in her turn by Draxana Snape, a year older than her. Lily was a gentle child but stubborn enough to just ignore Penelope, and chose to play with Remus. The oldest ones still preschool, Sevnev and Ismenia, tended to ignore the younger ones' quarrels. Tears in the nursery were leading Severus to the thought that he might just institute a Charm School for preschool children to learn control of uncontrollable magic, since there were those parents quite happy to pack their children off to boarding school as young as seven years old, and if Draxana and Penelope at eight and nine had to mix it with children of nine and ten, they might both be a bit less bumptious.

And he might send Draxana to Hogwarts early anyway, as with Lilith, and leave Penelope coping with children a couple of years older than her, as Charm School was typically for nine to ten year olds. It gave one or two years of learning to mix with others as much as controlling magic. Most Charm Schools taught the use of dedicated wands to teach the children the proper motions of particular spells enchanted into those wands; Severus intended teaching them to control their magic wandlessly, and with plain school wands from which they might not be expected to get much, not being a wand that chose them, but which would give them wand protocols. And then he would get hold of the keenest, brightest and best to keep. The wretched Triwizard always interfered with planning.

oOo

Viktor Krumm was startled into an expletive in Bulgarian at breakfast when an owl arrived with a message for him.

"Bad news?" asked Severus.

"I'm not sure," said Viktor, passing the letter to Lydia, who read it, laughed, and passed it to her father.

The letter was from Eduard Von Frettchen, on behalf of the governors of Durmstrang, asking if Viktor would represent non German pupils by becoming a Governor of Durmstrang school.

"It's a good opportunity to make sure we keep in close liaison," said Severus.

"I would not accept it if you do not wish me to," said Viktor. "I am happy here, teaching, and here I would prefer to stay."

"Well, you don't have to stop teaching here," said Severus, "Just turn up from time to time with the other Governors and stick your nose in, and impress the brats by negating any of the jinxes the little darlings drop on Governors as being fair game."

Viktor laughed, ruefully.

"And in my young day it would not have occurred," he said. "I will, then, if you have no objection, accept, and keep an eye on Durmstrang. Agata has learned much but until she accepts being one with the Group, we must watch that none manage to browbeat her."

"I think she'd call in the big guns if anyone tried," said Severus mildly.

"The Ferret?" asked Viktor.

"The Marauders," said Severus, and Viktor laughed. The Durmstrang Marauders were a very able bunch.

Viktor later used the floo to talk to Eduard, and discovered that one of the governors had been summarily dismissed by trying to coerce one of the sixth into a sexual liaison with him, and was under investigation by the Vehmgerichten. Eduard shared with Viktor the excellent way that Scholastica had dealt with an attempt to use the Imperious curse on her, and Viktor laughed.

"Good for her!"

oOo

Ambrose was surprised to receive a letter from his Aunt Diana, mentioning that she would be in Austria and would be visiting his headmaster and if permitted would like to take any of his friends out for a treat.

Ambrose, knowing that his aunt was as wealthy as she was eccentric, had no qualms in asking Severus if he could invite the whole class, and were there any protective potions against indigestible goodies.

Severus raised an eyebrow.

"Aunt Diana likes people to be happy, sir, but I know how much my capacity is, and I don't think all the kids do," said Ambrose.

"Hmm, wise of you, Mr Daggerton," said Severus. "Have you any idea why Miss, er, Bollen, should be visiting Austria?"

"I expect she's pissed off another powerful slave owner who wants to kill her and thinks it politic not to be in America for a while," said Ambrose, cheerfully. "When I say she bought Suellen, it was rather by way of conning her owner into selling her, because he was a cruel fink, same as how she took Twinkle from his owner for mistreatment, well, not that kneazles stay with nasty people readily anyway, but Aunt Diana turned the owner into a mouse."

He came up for air.

"Your aunt appears to have the same approach to unpleasant people that Madam Malfoy does," said Severus.

Ambrose beamed.

"Yes sir! It's why I think Madam Malfoy is the works, sir!" he said. Severus hid a smile; Ambrose was picking up some English slang like someone being 'the works'.

Madam Bollen turned up with not one but two part-bred elves in tow, one of them clad in an embroidered antimacassar and rather contemptuously hussling the clothed juvenile with her.

Strang, having orders to admit her, did so, and Flo smiling at the witch and her charges led her to Severus' office.

"Madam Bollen, Ambrose said you were likely to have annoyed a slave owner," he said.

"Too right I did, Professor; and this here is Bubba, and he's ten, and as he's a free elf I want him in a school where he will be treated like any other child," said Aunt Diana.

"Do you want to go to school, Bubba?" asked Severus, gravely.

The juvenile elf stared.

"Please, Bubba thinks he might, if the master cares to ask as much as Mistress Diana does," he squeaked.

"Didn't I tell you it would be all right?" said Madam Bollen.

Severus laughed.

"You put me forcibly in mind of my wives, Madam Bollen," he said. "And they can be a little overwhelming to those they rescue. How…."

"The creep went to swipe Bubba with a big heavy book so I transfigured it into a pair of bloomers, and hit his hand with a stinging hex so he let go of it and effectively gave Bubba clothes," she said. "It's no sort of name of course, but what else does the poor kid know?"

"Bubba, would you like a more human name?" asked Severus.

"They is humanses named Bubba," said Bubba, cautiously.

"Only Rednecks," said Diana. "That's an epithet of the Southern states, Professor. I've been staying there trying to cause as much mayhem as I could in stirring up slaves and using your excellent chant one at a time to get rid of the self punishing curse. It is your chant, isn't it that the Broomstick Boys sing? Suellen told me it made her feel that she didn't have to punish herself as much, so I worked with it."

"Congratulations," said Severus. "You may as well join the other post graduates here for a while; we debate a lot of esoteric things. And Suellen will doubtless like to learn too."

Suellen sniffed.

"Nobody isn't going to con Suellen into being free," she said. "Suellen takes care of Mistress Diana and that fluffy mangy thing."

The fluffy, and not mangy, kneazle licked Suellen's ear giving a lie to her hard words.

"Nothing to stop you learning all you wish to help your mistress more though, free or slave, is there?" said Severus.

"Besides, while I own her, her former owner can't enact any revenge on her," said Aunt Diana. "You do have younger ones here, don't you, for the lad to settle in with?"

"Yes, indeed, and may I suggest if Bubba would like a name change, 'Bobby' is close enough," said Severus. "Bobby Bollen, hmmm?"

The juvenile elf looked up at Aunt Diana, who nodded.

"Very suitable," she said.

oOo

The first voted Ambrose's Aunt Diana to be a capital sort of aunt. Protected by prophylactic draughts against indigestion they visited a gasthof in Austria and feasted on sticky Austrian pastries to their hearts content. Severus considered it a salutary sort of lesson to them to meet people from other places, and it was not as though they were not well ahead in their lessons.

Even if all were not quite as well ahead as the Marauders in the year who had managed ritual magics of a level many NEWT level students in other schools would consider challenging.

Or in the case of Hellibore's, Beauxbatons, and anyone outside of Marauders in Hogwarts or Durmstrang, impossible.

Bobby came too, and his near contemporaries, Sevnev and Ismenia, to get to know him, and Ambrose cheerfully called him 'Cousin Bobby' having picked up the habits of the Snape ménage and their adoptees.

oOo

Aunt Diana was keen to talk to Kizzy Delmar, the protégé of the Broomstick Boys, and Severus sighed and sent a blood pulse to Chrys and Nils, and left them explaining some of the chant to the Michigan-based witch. Very few people in Michigan owned house elves, though several now employed those freed part elves Diana had managed to acquire and found employment alongside her human neighbours. Michigan had fewer goblins than some parts of America too, so Diana received an education on goblin rights as well.

She took to it very well and made extensive notes for the newspaper she wrote freelance articles for. Her articles were well received by some of the more radical readership, and the editor received death threats on her behalf from the rest, and offers to have her raped by trolls, so Diana reckoned she was doing a good job.

The Broomstick Boys reckoned so too, and adopted her as their courtesy aunt as well.

oOo

"Cousin Achille tried to do a sending against us in the hols," Cecilia confided to the MSHG.

"And you only bother to tell us about it now?" said Severus.

Cecilia and Emil both shrugged.

"Meh, we forgot," said Emil.

"I take it that it wasn't a very competent sending," said Severus.

"Well not hardly," said Cecilia. "And we remembered that you leave yourself open to the sendee, so we combined, as he was trying to send the Cruciatus Curse against both of us at once, and I bet he'd have made heavy weather of trying to do just one of us. So we twisted it and made it a Forgiveable curse and he should be avocado green after a moment of being dead scared."

"Excellent," said Severus. "And well done to you both for not just reflecting it, though I shouldn't have blamed you."

"We said 'Avocado Kadavra' twenty three times and powered it with the force of his Cruciatus Curse so it's sort of tied to him and with his own wand almost doing it," said Emil. "Isn't it a good job other people can do Arithmancy so I don't have to?"

Severus gave him an affectionate two fingered cuff.

Achille was going to have real problems getting over that, though possibly Mandragora potion might work.

"He's green with envy at really competent witches and wizards," grinned Krait.

"And now we know his touch we'll recognise it if he tries to do anything else," said Cecilia, practically, "and we were half expecting it, because he wrote how disappointed he was that we had not been chosen and that some animal of a goblin had been chosen over either of us, so presumably our blood was weakened and we must expect punishment."

"Git," said Krait.

"Well he never was very satisfactory," said Severus. "Well, well! At least we know that the punishment of the would-be Dark Sun King is met by a pair of teenage practitioners with the expression 'meh'. He hasn't increased in power."

"No, and he was most awfully sloppy in the compulsions he tried to put in us over the summer holidays too," said Cecilia.

Severus groaned.

"I WISH you children would tell me about these things," he said.

"Well, it was a bit too feeble to worry about," said Emil.

"Let me just check," said Severus. "A competent practitioner can lay in a compulsion you don't even know you have…" he stared into the eyes of each. "…as I said, a competent practitioner. But then, as you say, feeble. Of course, I suspect if you had NOT been blooded it might have had more effect," he added sternly. "PLEASE let me know what the egregious little megalomaniac tries on, and don't assume that just because he's incompetent he might not get it right by accident."

The Villeneuve twins grinned.

"Sorry sir!" they chorused.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

For Beauxbatons, like Durmstrang, meeting at a lodge before the school term only took place at the beginning of the school year, and otherwise it was the responsibility of the parents to see their children delivered to the Chateau. Pharamond took it upon himself to collect small Emilien Perrin, one of the youngest Marauders in the school, since the child was muggleborn and his parents entirely at a loss to take him to a school heavily surrounded by muggle-repelling spells. Emilien was very grateful, and Pharamond explained that he had spoken with the parents of the Lafée children, all of whom were Marauders, to ask them to meet up with Emilien in the future.

Pharamond went to see Madam Maxime.

"I take it on myself to see to the safety of the muggleborn," he said "But as more of them start, it might not be a bad idea to either hide by obviousness as Hogwarts does, or else have a number of portkeys for the less well off and muggleborn children at places they can easily reach, supervised by responsible members of the Terminale and Première classes. Or lay on a bus."

Olympe considered.

Some of the part goblins found it something of a hardship too. Her own family had had no trouble, being sufficiently well off to hire a carriage each term for herself and her twin, but that did not apply to all.

"I will look into those possibilities, Pharamond," she said. "Any one has merit, though it might be as well to have a school bus, working on the same principle as the English Knight Bus, so that anyone who needs to start late for such reason as illness or family problems, can come at their convenience."

"It'll need a driver with more geomantic knowledge than we normally learn, won't it?" asked Pharamond.

"Not as I understand it," said Olympe. "The Knight Bus is driven by someone who is little more than a squib; the enchantment in the bus is what enables it to travel in its unique fashion, and to read the fact that someone is summoning it. I may have to ask help from the English to enchant one, of course, but so long as it works, I don't really care."

"I bet Darryl would have known," said Pharamond.

"More than likely," said Olympe, deciding not to take issue with Pharamond being on first name terms with a former member of staff. "However, though it comes too late for you, we shall have Geomancy lessons from next year."

"Oh, excellent, I'm sure Philomène…er, and others of that year… will be keen to take an ELM in it over their last two years, even if they can't study to ELF," said Pharamond. "The Ministry of Education has found someone willing and able?"

"No, I was approached by the boy from the Free School, Riker Shorg – ah, bah, a difficult name to say – asking if I would be interested in his services teaching. Naturally I jumped at the chance before he offered his skills elsewhere," said Olympe. "We teach less subjects by far than the English schools, and less even now than Durmstrang; and I am sick of overhearing goblin bookmakers taking odds on whether Beauxbatons or 'Ellibores will be bottom. I am determined that our education should not be a joke; and there will be changes!"

"Darryl found the long lunches demoralising," said Pharamond, "And those of us who have done extra chanting studies in the lunch period have in no wise fallen below our normal grades in other classes."

"Well, I have listened to Darryl's comments and I am considering making some changes," said Olympe. "I was considering having formal preparation classes during the lunch times from next year, which could be used for any new classes if need be, and that will ease in the idea of having a shorter time to digest, without it being for most as hard as working on structured lessons."

Olympe had been horrified at the idea of not having a long post-prandial rest, but as Beauxbatons had such a relatively poor record, she was prepared to try overcoming her scruples as none of the other schools seemed to expect so much time for the assimilation of _le déjeuner_. Having spoken to both David Fraser and Severus Snape in the holidays – more convivial people to talk to, she thought, than Agata Bacso - she was preparing to consider taster classes that changed at half term of the first term of the first year for a mini elective choice by aptitude of new lessons instituted, so that the school day should not be so long and arduous. She was appalled by the amount both David and Severus considered the children should be studying, and yet they had both instituted rules limiting when and where their children should study, and had sworn by it for getting better results! Olympe was no fool, and she was aware that study did go on illicitly and in bedrooms, especially before exams; and if longer days were to be instituted, such things would be more firmly cracked down on.

And, too, it would prevent the older ones from slipping out of school and down to the town at lunch time, which did go on, however much she had denied it to the Enquêteur who had wondered about the cursing of Homère's erstwhile lover.

At least his new boyfriend seemed a reasonable youth, and willing to do his best. And Homère was a much more tractable member of staff when his love life was smooth.

oOo

Returning to the Chateau as and how they might had a number of things that could go wrong, and Pharamond sighed and used a very complex piece of chanting to pull off the switching spell of his life to deal with the kit of Selene Dubois, a muggleborn child a year older than Emilien who was happy to come by train and await a cart sent from the castle to the nearest muggle train station for her kit. Selene, however, was not the most careful girl in the Quartième. She had the sense, however, to appeal to Pharamond as a big one who was not likely to sneer at her for having accidentally picked up the baggage of a muggle child. This came complete with tennis racquet and some lurid and inappropriate literature, if literature the bodice-rippers might be so called, most unsuitable for a child who appeared to be of an age with Selene. Pharamond put an admonitory note in the front cover of one to the effect that this was not nice reading. The shock of having had this illicit reading found by someone might give the young muggle pause. Or then again it might not, but one had to try.

The books were disguised amongst the text books on muggle subjects.

Selene was delighted to have her kit back and thanked Pharamond profusely, and ran off happily. She was quickly back, sobbing, with zits saying 'Liar' on her head, telling Pharamond that Belle Verpey of the year above her own had declared that this level of switching spell was quite impossible.

Pharamond quickly got rid of the zits, and sought out Belle.

"Mlle Verpey," said Pharamond, "I have issue with you, over accusing a child I was able to help of lying. I would like an apology from you to her, for your accusations, and to me for doubting my brilliance."

"But switching spells can't be done unless you can see what you are switching," declared Belle stubbornly.

"Ordinary switching spells for kids your age, no," said Pharamond. "One is rather expected to branch out as one learns more; and moreover I used a chant. You DID do some chanting with Professor Zabini, even if you were too bone idle to learn much."

"I still say it's impossible," said Belle.

"Ah?" said Pharamond, and chanted again. "I hope you know what to do with a tennis racquet and books on subjects like Chemistry. They are now in your desk."

Belle opened her desk and gave a whinny of horror.

"Now, would you like me to perform the impossible and get your own books back?" asked Pharamond.

"Y…..yes" stammered Belle.

Pharamond switched the muggle child's kit yet again and hoped that she had not yet attempted to unpack. As the contents of her trunk lay in the desk as they had in the original trunk, this seemed unlikely; and indeed it had been a harder matter to switch the contents than just the trunks. He was quite pleased with himself.

"Oh, thank goodness!" cried Belle.

"It's not goodness, you have to thank, my girl, it's me," said Pharamond, "and I am waiting for your apology to Mlle Dubois, and also to me."

"I-I'm sorry," managed Belle, blushing.

"I suspect, Mlle Dubois, that will have to do," said Pharamond. "Will you accept it?"

"Yes," said Selene, "because as she hasn't been very gracious I shan't have any hesitation in telling my year how stupid she looked when you switched everything again. I so am going to work hard on chanting!"

"Excellent," said Pharamond, and went to share the vicissitudes of his self appointed duties of sorting out the junior school with his friends.

oOo

The only other troubles that occurred were the usual ones of various children having taken books home for Yule assignments and having left them behind. Frantic owls were dispatched to have the said books – and one wand – returned to their owners, and were more of a headache for the staff whose subjects were covered than for Pharamond. The only staff who set Yule assignments were Nine Napier, because she thought all children should be kept reminded of school at every holiday, and Homère Tisserand who honestly believed that it would be fun for his students to have a piece of history to research to keep them from getting bored. Homère was laid back about missing books, and Nine threw a hissy fit, which was, as Jean-Luc said to Pharamond when someone cried about it at the ECC, in no way different to her normal manner.

oOoOo

The Free School had no trouble about left kit, the wrong kit or the wrong school of the kind commonly encountered by the boarding schools, since all the wands, kit, books and so on resided in the school itself, including the wands of those staying for NEWTs who were nominally adult, because any bad behaviour with wands still reflected on the school. Those returning for extra qualifications were held to be able to be trusted on their own recognisances, having spent some time in the real world. The problems with the Free School tended to along the lines of the threatening of parents or their pimps of girls turning sixteen over the holidays who were being forced into prostitution, or boys being found jobs. These little problems had tended to diminish each year as more and more pimps, madams and hardened parents felt the wrath of the professors of the school. And many of these transgressors went out of their way to avoid the very gaze of the professors who had done such things as change sex on them or made them live their worst nightmare temporarily. And some parents would have perhaps been grateful for such intervention had their offspring's greater earning capacity come anywhere near them, instead of most of them cutting themselves off from such rapacious parental instincts.

This Yule saw only an outbreak of chizpurfles which was rapidly dealt with, the source traced, and the culprit family swearing that the chizpurfles had come from their muggle neighbours' television and computer, as they lived actually in the Ravenscourt Road.

This was a theory that could not be entirely discounted and a swift and surreptitious visit was made to the muggles, who also had doxies in their curtains as well as chizpurfles in their computer.

Odd things like this could happen sometimes, and Neville made a note to keep an eye on the said muggles for muggleborn talent in their offspring or those of their relatives. These things had to originate somewhere!

The other small irritation was the complaint from a rather loud human male that some of the schoolchildren had been jinxing him just because he felt that part-goblins were an abomination who ought to be put down, even if goblins served some purpose in society.

Neville pointed out coldly that none of the children had wands, and that if he had been jinxed by someone he considered to be lesser beings, he would surely have no trouble in unjinxing himself even if the lesser being or beings in question were wanded, which if they were children at the free school, they were not. He managed to hint at psychoses and delusions based on obsessive and foolish beliefs. As the interview took place in the street, all the listeners laughed a lot and were on the Headmaster's side.

Neville summoned Violet, Iris and Lilac Shorg to his office and got May as well. He raised an eyebrow.

"For the purpose of being a Purple Person, I am Prunella," said May, with a gulp. "I gang with my kid sisters."

"And enterprisingly you have been learning to cast wandlessly," said Neville. "DO learn to cast wordlessly as well if you want to avoid trouble. I have no doubt that in Prince Peak you will learn to chant well enough to create spell effects at a distance with the use of Sendings, such as their first years enacted on Dolokhov, but thank the Powers for small mercies, you haven't been exposed to that knowledge here. Off the record, that man is an offence to humanity but don't push him too far. You don't want him harming the little ones in revenge."

The four looked aghast at that last.

"We'll lay off him," said Violet.

"At least til the babes are at school," said Iris. "I say, sir, you say it was the first year at Prince Peak who did that? We're way behind!"

Neville laughed.

"DO bear in mind that one of that group is Professor Snape's grandson, another is the son of the Dark Arts teacher at Durmstrang, and several of them have grown up around Prince Peak or Schloss Adler through being related either to teachers there or the support staff. They are unusual children. And Prince Peak does teach ritual, albeit informally. I'm sure you'll soon pick it up. And rather at Professor Snape's expense than mine," he added, laughing.

"Don't you like him, sir?" asked May.

"On the contrary, I love him dearly, as a second father," said Neville. "You have been told in history that until restored, my parents were catatonic through being tortured by the minions of Voldemort; and when I was at school, Severus Snape became as a father to me, and taught me probably more about DADA than any other teacher, even though he only took the class for a year during the curse years. I owe him and his wife Krait everything. He is stern, but the best man in the world if you are in trouble. Which reminds me. You are in trouble. I want you all to write me a poem on the advisability of restraint, no less than ten lines, no more than fourteen. And stay out of trouble."

"Yes, sir," they said.

"Do you want us to take the jinxes off?" asked May.

"Well, if he thinks you so inferior, he ought to be able to do it himself," said Neville.

"You are a sport, sir!" said Lilac.

oOoOo

Hellibores school also had very few beginning of term mishaps, though in their case it was because all the children travelled to school by private transport at all times, and rarely if ever took any text books home with them, as holiday assignments were the exception rather than the rule. Indeed any assignments set, holiday or term time, tended to be treated as voluntary. Frustrating as this was to professors like Miles Grant, who felt he had little backup from the headmaster, the fact remained that neither head nor parents generally felt any desire to enforce the production of anything quite so four-lettered and Anglo-Saxon as expressed in the word 'work'. The more sensible boys, and the occasional girl, worked hard for their own future benefit, but the efforts of the Mordaunt twins and their older brother were the exception rather than the rule. It may be said that there was often a shift towards working harder in the OWL year, and subsequently in the sixth form, but it was too often a case of too little, too late. However by that age, most of the pupils might be assumed to be old enough to have got over the scattier propensities that might see kit left behind.

Miles Grant hoped that the Triwizard would help to show up such deficiencies, since Sardo, renowned for working harder than most, was already struggling a little, and would not be likely to make a great showing in the second task. And it was the second task, in many ways, which did the greatest sorting out of the sheep from the goats, in determining the time delay at the maze.

The greatest problem on returning was in the fifth, where the only two girls within that class had fallen out. Bettony Plank was normally quite the worshipful devotee of clever Orella Feverfew – who knew she was clever and rested on her laurels – since Bettony had stayed with Orella over the holidays. Orella had insisted that they go to a quidditch match as part of the festivities, which might not have been so bad had she not made disparaging comments about the rules that permitted goblins to play, and had not Bettony decided at that moment to grow a backbone and mention how jolly were the goblins they had met at Prince Peak. Orella's parents were within an inch of writing to Professor Hellibore asking him to make sure that their precious daughter did not visit a school that took goblins when Bettony fired the winning shot that she for one was glad to know how to socially interact with goblins in case any of the contacts she had made at Prince Peak led to any parties that the Malfoys might patronise.

Orella cared less about meeting goblins socially, she just questioned their ability to play quidditch as well as humans, but the whole matter had blown up between the two girls, leading Bettony accusing Orella of being racist, and Orella accusing Bettony of being low. The matter continued into school, where shrunken clothing, tripping hexes, farting curses and transfiguring food into vomit were the order of the jinxes between the girls.

It was all very disruptive.

"And we can't even jinx them because gentlemen don't jinx ladies," complained Crispin Merrythought, leading a deputation to Caspar Jefferson, as head boy.

"Well after their antics at lunch, I'm not sure they count as ladies," said Caspar. "I suggest you start by writing a round robin to them, and all signing it, asking them to behave like ladies, however much they may feel like a pair of guttersnipes, because whilst they behave like ladies you will treat them accordingly. If they continue to misbehave after being given a token of the thoughts of their fellows then I suggest it assumes they are no ladies and can be squashed as though they were irritating little boys from some other school."

"Thanks, Jefferson," said Crispin, relieved.

The girls received the round robin with indignation, and had it not been a case of two against eight, they might have resolved their differences enough to combine against the boys. As it was, they stopped the overt campaign against each other and studiously ignored both each other, and the boys.

It was still uncomfortable, but at least less so.

Garnet and Galena thought the two older girls were very silly. However, they had won their victory over Yule, and had extracted the promise from their parents to send them to Prince Peak, if they could both pass the stringent entrance examination. And Galena, who had received notice that she was to be Sardo's best beloved, hoped to check that she and her twin were on track with their private studies, to be able to pass it.

As their private studies, based on discussion with their Prince Peak contemporaries at the Halloween party, were taking them into the text books used by both the year above them, and some from the fifth, they had every chance of being on par with the average Prince Peak children of their age group at least, if not in the same league as the higher flyers of their age, like Zhenga and Fyra. It had led to a few moments of consternation of their professors when marking assignments to come across terms and laws quoted that were not expected at Hellibore's Academy before the cramming of the fifth year, but as neither twin showed any tendency to be overtired or priggish they were generally left to it, and Galena opened her eyes wide and explained that she needed to know how to cast switching spells so that she could make her brother put salt in his tea. Research for pranks was grudgingly accepted to be a believable reason for a third year to be doing extra work.

oOoOo

"Who then will your best beloved be, Aglaia?" asked Palagina. Aglaia hesitated; but Palagina was as close to a friend as she had, once the bitterness of the Goblet of Fire's choice had subsided. Palagina had not envied Aglaia in having to get past the erumpent, and she had very little idea about how to use Geomancy.

"My little sister, I think," Aglaia said.

"I did not know you had a sister," said Palagina. "When does she start school?"

"She is twelve; she goes to a school in England and she is happy there, though I think she might do better with a tutor," said Aglaia. Let them think it was some small, private school with a limited number of subjects.

"Your parents did not send her then to Durmstrang with you?" asked Palagina. "Is she a spoilt child?"

"No, just a little delicate," said Aglaia. "But there is no point sending anyone to Hellibore's, however good the mountain air, as they do not seem to teach them anything there."

At that, thought Aglaia, perhaps Iphie would not have been handicapped at Hellibore's; most of them seemed to be as stupid as stumps, and Iphie could, at least, manage Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes, and the odd potion that was not a total failure. Perhaps at that she might transfer and just not tell Hellibore that she was a squib.

"A shame that she is delicate. Will she come here, perhaps?" asked Palagina. "We are not such uncouth ruffians as those of Durmstrang."

Aglaia did not say what she was thinking, but mused in amazement that Palagina believed that!

"I do not know," she said. "It is the decision of my parents."

Her parents had been talking about withdrawing Iphie from school and making her be Aglaia's maid; and Aglaia intended, when that happened, to hire a governess for Iphie herself. Her parents were outmoded; there were more options for squibs these days, especially those who were skilled at Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Iphie could help design ritual, and would be a great help to Aglaia in what she had learned in Russia. With two of them working on design, Aglaia had a chance of being a very successful curse breaker, and that was a prestigious career. And Iphie needed the chance to be educated as well as she could be.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

All untoward missing kit had been sorted out by the time the other schools started convening at Beauxbatons, much to Pharamond's relief. The small contretemps at the edge of the apparating zone appeared to have been taken well in hand by the crew of Wizarding Wireless Vision, and the extra crew member who was no such thing was handed over in short order to the hastily summoned Enquêteurs. As he went off shouting "vive le Roi Soleil!" he might be supposed to be a follower of Achille, and whatever he might have wanted, Pharamond did not care.

The Enquêteurs uncovered that what he wanted was to assassinate Pharamond for having made a fool of the Roi Soleil's tool, the unregretted Clarembaut, as an object lesson that Achille's arm was long. This was because Achille was in a bad mood, though his long arm, and presumably other parts of him, was also uncomfortably green at the moment. The prisoner imparted this news as something he had noticed though his employer had been hooded and cloaked to give him orders. Enough wrist between cloak and glove had shown and under veritaserum the prisoner speculated that he was blaming this Pharamond Duval for this effect too.

Asked about it, Pharamond shrugged and said,

"Nothing to do with me; I hadn't thought of it, and moreover it's not worth my time wasting my talents on the little freak."

This was considered as convincing a reason to suppose him innocent of malicious colouration charms as any.

oOo

Severus Snape had arrived early to set up the places to which the contestants would be going, and he and his helpers had collected and stowed the various best beloveds. Being inclined towards interschool co-operation they were all staying in the summer house of M. Duval, which Severus was using as a safe location for his hostages, where he had also set up, in that part he was using the conditions to permit M. Duval and his elves to go, as well as limiting it in other ways to the contestants. The new occupants of the rooms set aside for them included small Cosmo Malfoy, who was only seven, but as Lucius had blooded him in firmly was ably protected, as well as being a happy and self assured child. Cosmo was a symbol, and that made his inclusion important, and Severus had considered long and hard and had consulted with Lucius before including him rather than Zajala's boyfriend Nigel. This meant that Pieris, Salix and Sallow had demanded to share with their brother, and Lucius shrugged and brought in all the younger ones, as they would have been born blooded had he got around to joining earlier.

The other best beloveds were Philomène, for Pharamond; Crow for Yrdl; Galena for Sardo; Elfleda for Zyrillis; Petrus for Biirta, bubbling with excitement to be loved enough by his sister; Ivy for Riker, Sextus for Lilith and Iphianira for Aglaia.

Iphianira was excited and a little scared, but was quickly put at her ease by Philomène, who took it on herself to find out who everyone was to effect introductions.

"Gosh, what a nice friendly girl you are; you'd never think you were Hallow's sister," said Elfleda.

"Have you ever noticed how tact is not a word found in the lexicon of those from Durmstrang?" drawled Sextus.

"Oy, Scarpin, put a sock in the snidery," said Crow.

"My sister is a darling," said Iphianira.

"She's a bully," said Elfleda, "well, she was when she was at Durmstrang. But if she's got any problems at home I guess that can account for it. She got expelled for being likely to get all our castle elves killed."

"You take that back! Aglaia is kind to our elf!" cried Iphianira.

"The kid hasn't seen her with her hackles up defending the untenable racist views she has, I guess," shrugged Crow. "I had a chat with Cherrytree about her, and she reckons Hallow is running scared at school and not a happy bunny at all."

Iphianira burst into tears, and Elfleda put an arm around her.

"I'm sorry kid. If she has reason to bite at people, but is nice to you and to your family elf, then there's more to Hallow than I've seen," she said.

"She is going to look after me, even if my parents say I must be her maidservant," said Iphianira. "She believes in me, and that I can be good with Arithmancy and Runes, if nothing else!"

"Why on earth should you be a maidservant to your sister?" demanded Petrus.

"Because I'm a squib!" said Iphianira.

"Oh, you're cousin Harry's friend," said Ivy. "But I don't see why you should be a maid. How antiquated is that? There's heaps of openings for squibs these days."

"And we're getting close to getting the ritual to overcome it at Prince Peak," said Crow. "Looking at Harry Crockford's Malfoy lines helped no end, because he's got enough goblin markers to throw the problems into clear relief. Professor Snape reckons that we'll have the cure by the end of the school year. Some of the ritual we have right now is a trifle dodgy."

"A CURE?" asked Iphianira

"Yeah, why not?" said Crow. "It may not make a heap of difference to older squibs – same as how older wizards and witches who don't take up a school place and never use magic have the ability dwindle with age – but with anyone under about thirty it should be the works!"

"Why are squibs?" asked Petrus.

"Because of a curse from the fey, who also cursed house elves to self-punish, and be servile, in order to weaken humans by making them depend on them as well as punishing a tribe of fey who were rebellious," said Crow. "The squib effect shows up more often in pure bred families because they carry more heritance effects from when the fey tried to curse no magic into the wizarding population of the time. It can be a partial effect, and trauma in childhood can also inhibit magic by setting off stuff the body produces itself – I don't understand that bit – to make them not look magical in front of muggles. And sometimes it can happen really young with terrible things happening. It's all sort of tied together, and when a squib reaches the age of doing magic, it's released somehow and stops the magic coming. I don't do muggle science very well, but their researches have explained it all."

"I didn't know muggles knew that much," said Petrus.

"Muggles are as clever as wizarding folk, they just don't have the magic heritance or only in a minor way if they are sensitives who can see things," said Crow.

"Yes, I've met a lot of muggles in the school I attend," said Iphianira. "There's no difference in their ability, save in the ability to do magic. Anyone who thinks muggles are stupid are misinformed."

"Good on you, young Hallow," said Crow. "And if you go to Rowan, you'll know there's nothing to slight goblins about either."

"Well obviously not," said Iphianira. "I have been trying to explain this to Aglaia, but she is too ready to believe our parents, who are sadly out of date, I fear. At least, I have to assume so from what she has said they say."

"Well what do they say to you?" asked Elfleda.

"They do not talk to me; I am a squib, so they assume I can't understand what they say," said Iphianira.

"I say!" said Elfleda, "if your parents are that rotten, I'm not surprised your sister has been badly behaved; reckon I'd be pretty mixed up with that sort of weird message. Hey, Marauders, I vote we do good by Hallow and steal her back from that Russian durak!"

"Seconded," said Crow.

"I'm not a Marauder, but I have friends who are, and I think that it's a good idea to rescue her!" said Petrus.

"I want to be a Marauder and I don't know much about her but I know I don't like racists and idiots but I repeat myself!" said Galena.

Crow ruffled her hair.

"You're coming to us next year so you probably will be a Marauder," he said. "And I heard some stories about Ivy's sisters, too! They might be up for it when they come to Prince Peak next year."

"They're insane, if that's what it takes," said Ivy.

"Oh but I would so wish I was a Marauder," said Iphianira. "We get told stories sometimes, and Harry and me wish that we could be squib Marauders!"

"Well it's been done before," said Sextus, "We'll have to see about that, kid. I say, I can't pronounce your name."

"Call me Iphie: Aglaia does," said Iphianira.

"Cheers, Iphie," said Sextus.

"I, too, am a Marauder, but I do not know enough about the past history to help much," said Philomène.

"I so am going to be a Marauder when I'm old enough to go to school!" chimed in Cosmo. "I'm named after the first ever part goblin in Hogwarts, and he was a Malfoy because Malfoys take infernal cheek as normal!"

Petrus laughed and hugged the little boy who was part of his family now.

"Lud, Cosmo, you arrive with a regular marauding group who are all related to you," said Sextus. "I make it eleven in your age group who are family."

Cosmo counted on his fingers.

"So do I," he said. "I expect not all of them will maraud though."

"I say, isn't it nice that everyone knows what Marauding is?" said Crow.

"I'm a bit hazy," said Ivy, "but we have heard a few stories. Marauders set up schools too; our school was set up by Marauders."

"Crazy through school, fight dark wizards, leave with more qualifications than anyone else and go teach other kids to fight dark wizards too," laughed Crow. "A pretty good definition of Marauding!"

Philomène settled down and got out her sewing; it might be some considerable time to wait.

"What are you making?" asked Iphianira.

Philomène held up the linen tablecloth.

"I got all the contestants – except your sister, who wouldn't talk to me – to sign this with muggle ball-point pens, and I'm embroidering over the signatures in different colours as seem suitable," she said. "I'm going to auction it after the Triwizard and the proceeds will go to the free school that's been set up in Paris."

"I can forge my sister's signature," offered Iphianira.

"Do you think that's quite straight, young Iphie?" said Philomène. "It's a cause your sister is dead against, and that would seem to be putting her name to it. I have left a gap in case she ever changes her mind, and if she doesn't, I'll put on her name in block capitals. But I won't have a forgery on it."

Iphianira flushed.

"I didn't think about it not being straight," she said. "I just wanted to make it make more money."

"You're a decent kiddy," said Philomène.

oOo

The order of the contestants had been drawn for the second task, to leave at ten minute intervals. Severus had set up, as he had with the previous task he had set, multiple brewing stations. In theory there should only be a need for three, but Severus was quite well aware how long some people could take in brewing one, or in some cases, two, thirty-minute potions.

Aglaia Hallow was to go first, followed by Lilith, then Yrdl. Severus had spoken to Ihor Rebet regarding Aglaia's skills, and felt that those three should each clear their potion dungeon in under forty minutes, barring accidents. Though of course there was the time taken to get there to take into account too. None of them should take long. And that was fortuitous; if the first contestants were fast, it should make up for him only setting up six brewing stations not nine.

The fourth to go would be Zajala, then Sardo, then Zyrillis. Seventh was Riker, eighth was Pharamond, and Biirta last. Fortunately both Biirta and Pharamond had the qualities of serenity. It was not entirely a matter of being blooded; Severus could picture his little daughter hopping around in impatience had she been going last. Lilith and patience were not quite mutually exclusive, but it was a close run thing. Even allowing for an hour to brew, and half an hour farting around travelling, the whole should take no more than two hours fifty minutes. Say three hours. Not unreasonable.

oOo

The judges read out the letter accompanying the two Geomantic maps aloud so that those watching on Wizarding Wireless Vision might know what was required, and the maps were displayed.

" _The first map will take you to where you can collect the ingredients and brew a potion to permit you to pass through fire to reach your loved one. There will be sundry other ingredients for those who may want them to help with their travel. Ingredients will need deciphering. The second map will take you to your best beloved. Oh, and one more thing, if you use the same method of transport on both journeys, you will incur a 20 point penalty_."

Severus did not rule out the use of alternative methods to pass fire, and had not specifically banned it; but the way the task was worded made it less likely that anyone would think of alternative measures. If any did, they would accrue time points accordingly for boldly ignoring the conditions set up. Which would be more likely to be Lilith than anyone else, except that Lilith was likely to brew the potion just for fun. Lilith was like that.

It was no riddle, because the test itself was fairly stiff. The contestants and their rescued best beloveds would be apparated back to the school by the Duval elves, who had volunteered to undertake this service. And if the contestants were not ready now, it was a trifle too late.

Aglaia declared her intention of using nodal shift with a broom for the first leg of the journey; and flew quickly to the spot she could activate to accelerate faster than the eye could really comprehend. The viewing screen saw her arrive in very short order, a couple of minutes, and she moved into one of the brewing rooms and started setting up the equipment for two brewings. A confident Geomancer who was also a competent potioneer, she would have no trouble making a liquid portkey, and plainly had no trouble with the runic labels in the main room with the ingredients laid out.

Lilith was getting ready to go now, and told the judges she planned to apparate in and gate out. This was a surprise to anyone who had expected the tiny girl to pick a potioneering solution of a portkey, though anyone who knew Lilith well enough knew that she hated the feeling portkeys gave her, especially at the moment when she was embarking on that uncomfortable transition from little girl to woman. Lilith had not, of course, got her apparating licence, but heavy-handed enforcement of such things tended to be suspended in sporting activities, and France was laxer in any case. Lilith dropped a pretty curtsy, and was appearing on the screen as she straightened from it.

"Posy," said Zajala.

"Lilith," shrugged Yrdl.

Aglaia jumped a little as Lilith appeared with only the faintest TIC! In the main room, and looked horrified that a child so young was apparating. She glanced covertly at Lilith's ears and head shape. Lilith gurned at her as soon as she could do so without her face being on the scrying globe. She anticipated that Aglaia was looking for some excuse to have her disqualified for being an elf or some other spurious complaint.

Aglaia turned away; the child was no elf, and rumour said she was the granddaughter of Voldemort, so maybe she really was just that good.

Yrdl was also apparating, and took a ball of twine with her, which she planned to use to make a ropework gate, just to show the Russians that other people knew a thing or two about knots. She arrived as Lilith was well settled into her brewing, having easily found the ingredients. They were labelled in Ancient Greek, Hieroglyphs and Gaelic so there were more chances than one to decipher them. Yrdl was good at Ancient Runes, as were the two others who preceded her. She was soon well into the task.

Zajala meanwhile declared her intent to gate in and use a portkey out; laid down a gate and arrived as Aglaia was decanting her liquid portkey and waiting for the fire resistance potion to finish its final changes. Zajala had no trouble with runes, and picked the ingredients for her two potions with no hesitation.

Sardo was preparing to fly on a flying horse; he had his broom strapped to the saddle. Hellibore taught only the most basic Geomancy, and whilst other schools taught more, Severus had felt no need to cater to the less well educated. The Triwizard was supposed to be a testing contest after all, not dumbed down for those less able. Sardo was not the only one to be using a horse, as both Riker and Pharamond planned to do so too; but Riker hoped get some extra speed from using the ley lines. Sardo was not even sure how to find ley lines.

The scene split as Sardo left, the view of him flying off small against the larger screen of Lilith drawing runes on a wall with her wand and walking through it. As Sardo departed, the scene changed to show Lilith in a short corridor with a curtain of fire. Lilith drank her fire resistance potion and walked through it. For the purpose of this part of the test the scrying globe in the waiting room was activated and Sextus grinned at Lilith. They had a Wizarding Wireless Vision screen in there to watch the contest.

"Nice work, Halfpint," said Sextus. Lilith gave him a firm kiss on the cheek . A grinning house elf took them by the hand, and returned them to the school, where they might watch the rest as they completed.

The Hellibore boy had not arrived at the brewing place before Zyrillis set off, a few minutes after Aglaia completed and drank her liquid portkey to take her onward. The globe switched views to show Aglaia arriving in the passageway of fire; then she was drinking her second potion she walked through the curtain.

Iphianira threw herself on her sister with a squeal of delight as she arrived, and elves brought them back too.

The screen was split here, as Zyrillis was leaving as Aglaia returned with her sister. Zyrillis also declared an intention to apparate, and did so quickly.

Yrdl was setting up her rope patterns while her potion brewed, stirring with her left hand whilst directing the rope patterns with her wand with her right hand. It was a piece of almost caddish virtuosity and Zyrillis paused briefly to appreciate the ropework in the doorway of one of the brewing rooms. He collected his ingredients quickly and without any fuss and set to. Five minutes after his arrival, Yrdl was stepping through her ropework gate whilst Sardo fell in the physical door to the lodge. Yrdl collected Crow without any trouble, though she was shocked to see the robed man who also scrambled into the passageway via a gate. Yrdl didn't bother with a wand and just cast _expelliarmus_ wordlessly, throwing him back before he was fully through, and absently closed the gate with a cutting spell. There was some sudden speculation about what this had been about on the Wizarding Wireless Vision, until the commentator was handed a note.

"Er, good people, I have a note here from Professor Snape who set this task, informing me that he had wind of a plot to kidnap the goblin children undertaking this task and therefore set up safeguards so that only the contestants and certain specified people can enter the competition zone. He wishes the people to known that Miss Breuer managed to deal with that attack wizard quite ably without his safeguards being needed. He, er, does not specify what would happen to any attacking wizard under his own defences."

"Probably going to end up in Snape's dungeon as potion ingredients," suggested the other commentator.

oOo

Already flustered by taking a good quarter hour to fly to the place, Sardo stared at the ingredients in horror. He knew no Ancient Runes at all. However, he was a competent potioneer and he had taken the suggestion made to him of picking the ingredients by appearance and scent. This was going to take longer than just reading the labels, and he was still choosing ingredients when Riker left on his horse. Riker soon found a ley line and though it made less difference on a horse than on a broom, he could snatch some time here. In fact he was arriving as Pharamond was about to go; and as Pharamond was also using a horse and had little idea how to use ley lines, Riker was to impress Madame Maxime with his use of Geomancy, confirming her in her belief that he was a much-needed teacher.

Zajala was leaving the potions place as Pharamond set out, and drank her portkey. She, too, was briefly amazed by a gate appearing, and was not as fast as Yrdl as she went for her wand. However before she could cast a spell, the atmosphere around the man wavered and with a thin scream he disappeared.

"I wonder what he wanted?" said Zajala, and moved on through the curtain of fire, to be re-united with Cosmo, who told her that Yrdl had shoved her bad man back through the gate.

"It's what they get for having all the sport," said Zajala. "The Russians haven't got the balls to attack Hogwarts because we're bigger than Prince Peak, so Uncle Severus and his lot get all the fun."

The Wizarding Wireless Vision crew were to gleefully show this clip many times.

Riker's arrival at the potion place was almost missed in this excitement, and the Vision crew were apologetic. Riker, like Sardo, was having to go on the look and smell of ingredients, but if he was slightly less sure than Sardo, he had been trained by the Junior Professor Snape, in the person of Romulus, and was not making heavy weather of it.

Biirta was last to go, ten minutes after Zajala had got back, and as she chose to apparate to the potions place, she arrived ahead of Pharamond. Biirta was very competent with ancient runes, and quickly had the ingredients she needed. Whilst things were heating she marked out her gate, which she planned to activate with pure Arithmancy.

Zyrillis was leaving as Biirta arrived, and he nodded to her as he walked out the door and leaped lightly for the node at which he might utilise nodal shift. He collected Elfleda without ado.

Pharamond arrived at last, and started setting out his ingredients. He was no great potioneer, but as he respected M. Cuillière, he had learned at least to be a methodical one. He knew his time was never going to be fast, but he planned to exit this place by chanting the opening of a gate.

Sardo meanwhile finished his brewing and set off on his broom. Fortunately the place of the hostages was not far, and he was soon being hugged by Galena, who was careful not to show her brother how very disappointing his time was.

Biirta finished next, though Riker was decanting; and she was walking through her gate as he went out the door to run lightly to the node where he might take the nodal shift. They arrived in the passageway together and Biirta grinned.

"We have to stop meeting like this," she said.

Riker chuckled.

"You're very good," he said.

"It's knowing the runes," said Biirta.

The attack wizard for Riker was also engulfed by Severus' spell but wherever he went it was langlocked, tickled, and sporting a variety of tentacles and pustules. Biirta and Riker high-fived each other and went to collect Petrus and Ivy.

"Cool jinxes, sis," said Petrus, who was impressed.

Pharamond was still brewing at this point; though his journey to the curtain of fire was at least rapid when he had finished, through the chanted gate he made. He faced two attack wizards, but one of them bore a flaming sun device on his robe and ran in the door. Pharamond, unaware of the engulfing charm had a moment's fear that this might be his last moment; but as the follower of Achille was swiftly hoisted by one ankle before disappearing with a yelp, the other attack wizard had cleared his ropework gate and disappeared with a squeal.

Pharamond shrugged to keep up appearances, but was not resisting when Philomène cast herself on him to hug him fiercely.

And then they were all back in Beauxbatons ready to be told the results.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

The contestants and their best beloveds all joined the others and their heads; Severus had wanted to keep them all together under elf protection. Just in case. And the Hogwarts, Durmstrang, Schloss Adler and Prince Peak contingents variously hugged their champions and their hostages, and each other's champions and hostages. Beauxbatons supporters kissed Pharamond politely on each cheek, and his blooded friends did so to Philomène too, Storm and Zephyra clapped Riker on the back, and Sardo's supporters shook his hand rather awkwardly. Palagina nodded to Aglaia. Lilith and Sextus were somewhere in the thick of the Hogwarts crowd, and Storm and Zephyra drew Riker and his cousin into the thick of things too.

The heads managed to penetrate the scrum to congratulate their contestants and silence was called as the judges announced the points for each contestant.

Aglaia had accrued 22 time points; and though France marked her down to 8 style points, all the rest gave her 10 for her aplomb, and most considered it well deserved. Lilith managed 30 time points, which was about as many as you could acquire, and had received 10 from everyone but the Russian judge who was outraged at a child so young apparating, and gave her a grudging 7. This still had Lilith seven points ahead of Aglaia and the Russian judge was about to have rather colourful farts for several days, which also glowed in the dark, as Lilith was not the only one to take exception to this. Yrdl had 25 time points, 10 each from everyone but the Russians, who marked her –for them – reasonably generously on 6. The knotwork had impressed them despite themselves. Counting on fingers led to a ragged cheer as different abilities of Arithmancy calculated that she had one more point therefore out of this task than Aglaia.

Zajala had twenty time points, and accrued 10, 8, 9 and 4 points from England, Germany, France and Russia.

The Russian judge was going to be playing music to go with his technicoloured farts when the delayed action jinx went into action.

Sardo was on a negative number of time points, -3, and scored 6 across the board bar the 5 from the Russian. He shrugged. It was fair, and he clapped for Zyrillis, who like Lilith scored 30 time points, and received 10s from everyone but the Russian, who gave him 7 like Lilith. Zyrillis and Lilith had scored the same on this task.

Riker was never expecting a good score, and was satisfied that at least he had positive time points, albeit only 6, and was pleased and surprised to receive 8s from all the western judges, and was unsurprised to gain only 4 from the Russian judge. Pharamond was also relieved to be on positive points, with 2, scoring 7 each from England and Germany, frowning at the blatant gamesmanship of his own country's judge as the French judge gave him 9, and not displeased to get 6 from Russia. He had not scored as well as Riker, however, and for a wealthy boy at a prestigious school who was, moreover, considered very academic, this was humbling.

Biirta was glad to have 29 time points, up there with the best, and to get 10 each from England and Germany, 9 from France and 7 from Russia. And with Russia marking down for blood snobbery, and France marking up for inverse blood snobbery, it might be hoped that the honours would even out.

The leader boards were calculated using a brevet version of Albert MacMillan's differencing engine, and quickly the overall scores came up.

Zyrillis led, on 122 points, with Lilith right behind him on 120. Biirta was scarcely any further behind on 117, then Aglaia on 113. Yrdl was on 110, then the others further behind, Zajala on 92, Pharamond on 81, Riker on 65 and Sardo on 58. The top five contestants were within 12 points of each other, or 12 seconds delay in the maze. The game was still very open. And Zyrillis, who knew the mindset of the Musical Marauders who would be setting the maze under Agata Bacso's direction, might be supposed to have an advantage.

"Hey, I might not win," said Lilith, cheerfully. "This is going to be dead fun."

David Fraser absently gave her the two-fingered cuff; and Zajala hugged the little girl.

"You win for Hogwarts," she said.

"Gosh, Zajala, you are really generous," said Lilith, kissing her on the cheek.

"I always knew if you were competing I wouldn't be in there; so thanks for confunding the thing so I got the chance to come," said Zajala.

"And don't rule out the leaders getting in a tangle with each other and strolling past us," said Lilith.

Zajala grinned.

"It ain't going to happen, but I'll act like it might," she said.

Meanwhile Dolokhov had come over to speak to Aglaia and Iphianira, if only to extract the girls from Yrdl and Crow, as Crow had introduced Yrdl as one of the people who had done a lot of work on the squib-curing chant.

"I do wish you low types from who knows where would leave my contestant alone," he said.

"Low, nothing," said Crow. "The Langstaffes are at least as good family as the Hallows, and the Breuers are an old German family. And none of them ever involved with having Death Eaters in their families. Sir," he added. "None of us ever knelt in the mud to kiss the hem of the robe of a jumped up little inadequate like Tom Riddle."

Dolokhov flushed.

"You are insolent," he said.

"The first thing an English gentleman learns is when to stop being one," said Crow. "See you around, Hallow senior and junior."

Aglaia nodded stiffly, and Iphianira hugged both Crow and Yrdl, despite a startled cry from Aglaia and a Russian expletive from Dolokhov.

"My dear child! Do not TOUCH it, you don't know what you might catch!"

"Don't touch what?" asked Iphianira, puzzled.

"That – the goblin," said Dolokhov.

Iphianira giggled.

"How silly!" she said. "Why, everyone knows goblins are perfectly cleanly as well as academically able as humans, it's like saying muggles are stupid!"

"Muggles are nothing but beasts!" said Dolokhov. "I am sure your parents do not know what revolting ideas you have picked up; I will write to them and suggest you transfer to the Pure Blood school."

"Well, I won't do as well there as learning muggle subjects; I'm a squib," said Iphianira.

Dolokhov actually took a step back.

"Aglaia! You actually permit it to live?" he cried. " _Evanesco!_ "

Iphianira's scream was cut off as she vanished.

"Oh powers, that's what it meant!" cried Eve.

A second's stunned silence then hubbub. Lilith and Yrdl were both slitting their palms, grabbing Aglaia and slitting hers, Crow, Sextus, Severus grabbing people to make a circle to chant, Zajala jinxing Dolokhov into a stone statue, and Lilith, Yrdl and Aglaia vanished.

The circle was completed by Marauders and the Blooded from those schools who had them, only Biirta having any idea what was happening of those from Schloss Adler; and Zajala and Kevin Slugworthy led the non-blooded of Hogwarts to face the Russian contingent and the Russian judge with wands out, grim faced and ready to react if they interfered.

Madam Maxime was loudly declaring that it was intolerable, and that the evil man Dolokhov would be sent to prison as soon as the Enquêteurs arrived.

The three who had vanished reappeared with the sobbing figure of Iphianira tenderly cradled between them, and Yrdl and Lilith were chanting as they came, a chant joined by those who knew it, of all things good and pure to remove the creeping excrescences on the little girl's body. Aglaia looked wild eyed.

Yrdl changed the chant, which was taken up by the Prince Peak contingent, and with a startled look by Lilith, who was instinctive enough to pick things up quickly.

And then Severus was singing a soothing song of sleep and went forward to gently pick up the dozing Iphianira from her sister's jealous arms.

"She is no longer a squib, my dear, and she might as well come to the safety of Prince Peak and start to catch up," he said. "A little naughty of Yrdl to jump the gun with an untested chant, but it could never have harmed her, I assure you, even if it had not been effective. As it was effective, and as Yrdl added a few twists to it which helped, I believe we shall be able to release news of it soon."

"She – Yrdl made my sister not be a squib? And she made some of that up?"

"Yrdl is a special child. She taught herself, her parents and her siblings to read, you know, before she came to school. She is talented, instinctive, and above all compassionate. Aglaia, now you are one with us, perhaps your turmoil and anger will end and you will be able to be at peace with yourself, hmmm?"

"I – I don't know," said Aglaia.

"You know now more than you have ever been told," said Severus. "And when you search inside yourself, you will find the prejudices are foolish on so many levels. But now you must rest, like your sister. And I must speak with Yrdl; she has never been to the evanesco place before."

Aglaia stared.

"You mean that babe Lilith has? She's only a year older than Iphie!"

"Lilith was sent there a couple of years ago by a most unpleasant, and yet also insane, member of the sixth of Hogwarts, who had no idea of consequences. She is now in a secure mental ward. We managed to rescue Lilith, and Lilith, being Lilith, insisted on going back, with safeguards and controls to seek ways of surviving and escaping. Her boyfriend Sextus – which is why he will always be her best beloved even more than any of her siblings or parents – braved the unknown that first time to seek her, tied to a shaky magical tether. We have learned since that some people do this to their elves when angered, and that their ties to blood enable them to find their families, even if they only return to die. By using your blood, Lilith and Yrdl found your sister; and to save her, they risked bringing you into the Blood Group even though you stand against everything we stand for. I hope, even if you decide not to listen to the truths your blood whispers to you, that you will remember that, and not try to act against us out of perversity in wishing you were not closer than kin to goblins and elves."

Aglaia gasped.

"But… I could not act against… it would be like acting against Iphie, or myself!" she said.

Severus smiled.

"Good, I am glad that you recognise that," he said. "It would tear you apart, but you could do untold damage before it did, if you so chose."

Aglaia shook her head.

"I – I don't know what to do," she said. "I don't know anyone who would knowingly risk what you suggest I could have done, for someone they don't even really know. Just because she's a little girl."

"Protecting people is what we stand for, especially the innocents," said Severus. "And where we can, we prefer people to learn that prejudice is foolish. I, for one, was a silly little boy, who as a half-blood called down mudbloods because it was at least someone to look down on. I learned better and grew up," he smiled ruefully. "And what a shock it was to the Deatheaters to find out that Voldemort was a half blood too! He made a mockery of their belief in pure blood."

"So Lilith is not pure blood?" asked Aglaia.

"Not hardly. I'm half blood; and her mother is Voldemort's get on a half-blood Malfoy. It doesn't follow, and I can prove it all Arithmantically, as to why blood snobbery is just so much superstition, like believing that May-born witches marry muggles," said Severus.

"I should like to see your proofs some time," said Aglaia.

"I will be pleased to show you," said Severus. "There is much in it that explains the nature too of squibs. It's a study in itself; you might want to take a year after school in Prince Peak looking at it."

"My parents won't be happy," said Aglaia. "Prince Peak being bad enough with its goblins, and not being a debutante too."

"Well, you're over seventeen and can also apply for custody of Iphianira," said Severus, "as I understand your parents plan to take her out of school to become a servant."

Aglaia flushed.

"I would have hired a tutor for her," she said. "She is brilliant at Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, she need not be pushed into makework!"

"I've seen one squib for whom being a servant was not makework," said Severus, grimly. "She was the nurse maid to her spoilt brat of a baby sister, and made to drudge all the hours of the day."

"That's wrong," said Aglaia. "Squibs should be protected, not exploited. Like elves."

"Well, we have some good instincts in you to work on," said Severus. "Now go and make peace with Miss Cherrytree who argued, before all this blew up, for us all to be friendly to you and help you escape that blasted durak of a Dolokhov!"

"She did?" said Aglaia, nonplussed. "Why?"

"Because she got to Durmstrang with some pretty silly and muddled ideas and proceeded to learn from its less homelike atmosphere. And she guessed you were feeling the same in what my wretched brats insist on calling the Cheesycrumpet School, and thought a hand extended might help you as she was helped by the Durmstrang Marauders."

"She's more of a lady than I thought, then," said Aglaia.

"When you first knew her, she wasn't a lady at all," said Severus. "I am pleased to call her a sister now. She's done very well. I'd be proud of her if I had any right to claim pride in her, though she has told me that she has considered the Prince Peak way as a contrast to Durmstrang, so maybe I am justified in some pride in her after all."

"Durmstrang was harsh," said Aglaia. "And the Russians consider them rough yobs, and without irony in their voices, though they are more like Durmstrang was at first."

"Well, there are those from the Russian school who are ready to learn," said Severus. "Now, go and rest. The others won't be permitted to pester you."

"One thing," said Aglaia, in a hard voice. "Can the stone jinx be removed from Dolokhov?"

"My dear, although the law of France, being based on the _crime passionel_ , would not indict you for sending him to that place, it is not good for you and your gentle, soft hearted sister would not like to think of you doing so. If you merely want to spit in his face, you can do that in court."

Aglaia stiffened; then nodded and went with the waiting elf, who took her and her sister both to lie down. Aglaia did not know it, but they went back to M. Duval's country house for safety.

oOo

Several young people had had the opportunity to walk round the statue once known as Dolokhov, muttering; and when the Enquêteurs arrived, and had been apprised of what had been done, and asked Zajala nicely to restore the prisoner, he came back to a flesh form with pustules all over him, exploding maggots from them, squealing 'yikes, it's horrible!'

The Enquêteurs ducked the maggots and with stoic bravery seized the exploding and popping Dolokhov, reading him his rights with Gallic brevity, and apparated him away.

"And good riddance to bad rubbish," said Yrdl.

"He – he sent her to the rubbish place," said Palagina, shocked. "She is still pure bred, even if she is a squib!"

"Don't you see, my good ass?" said Yrdl. "To supremacists there's no step at all between part bred, muggleborn, muggles, goblins, elves or squibs because they aren't what they see as perfect. You, you beautiful pure bred witches and wizard who have come with Aglaia, you are being brainwashed by Dolokhov to believe as he believes, that only the pure bred amount to anything. And who turned him to stone? A goblin. A very competent witch of a goblin, but a goblin. And she and I are here, performing better than some of the pure bred wizards from other schools because why? Because what he teaches you is a lie. Because it's as false to suppose anyone with the education might not do as well, regardless of their blood status, as it is to suppose that a squib should be killed. There are those wizards who kill squibs. There was a Russian wizard who was plainly an inadequate because he killed house elves who were born deformed instead of performing a simple medical transfiguration, since anyone who would call himself a master should have responsibilities to any he would master. One such child was hidden by his mother and healed by juvenile witch. The elf child's sister made those in the duelling team the year older than you look foolish because with schooling, she was better. There is no secret weapon concealed at Prince Peak except the students; we are the weapon because we work hard, and study diligently and want to please our headmaster by surpassing you duraks of supremacists because it pleases us to be able to laugh at you. Now you see for yourself how you are being led into lies – and if you are led into lies by one thing, for Dolokhov clearly considered himself within his rights to perform that spell, on Wizarding Wireless Vision at that, and therefore, will you ask yourselves in what other lies is he leading you? Is not my ropework superior to yours?" she pointed at Palagina, who flushed.

"I – I do not know what to say!" said Palagina.

"You should say 'I will think for myself, and see facts for myself, and use the brains between my ears, not parrot back the sayings of others who have made up their minds and blinded themselves to the facts!" said Yrdl. "Because you have eyes and ears and brains, and you should use them! Not let others tell you what to think! If you look at the facts and you think that part-bred witches like Lilith are inferior to you, that goblins like me are inferior to you, that the muggleborn like Professor Fraser, former Triwizard Champion, are inferior to you, then that is your prerogative. But look, listen, and decide for yourself!"

"But is not Lilith Snape the granddaughter of Voldemort? How can she be part-bred? Her father is Professor Snape and her mother is a Malfoy!" said Palagina.

"Item; Voldemort was a half-blood, the son of handsome muggle Tom Riddle," said Yrdl "Which is a matter of record. His daughter is the child of a half-blood Malfoy from when Lucius' father was playing away. Severus Snape is a half-blood. Hybrid vigour, you know," she added. "And the Malfoys are part fey anyway."

"The girl has a point or two," said Fedya Chareekrovy, pompously. "We have seen in no way any weakness or lack of ability in the goblin and part goblin participants; even the boy from the free school has held his end up valiantly, despite coming from a disadvantaged background."

"You are ready to change your tune when we are at the mercy of the rest of the schools, not hold to your duty to uphold the beauty of purity," said Avdotya Byerozya.

The Russian boy shrugged.

"Is it duty to be blinded? I permit myself to be led blindly by the facts. None of us had any idea what to do when the headmaster vanished the squib brat."

"Iphianira. The child has a name and it's Iphianira," said Yrdl. "And you scarcely know her well enough to decide if she is a brat or not."

Fedya shrugged.

"It's a mouthful of a name and I didn't get it the first time. All children under 14 are brats."

Yrdl nodded.

"Fair enough," she said.

Palagina was looking thoughtful.

"What is to happen to us without a headmaster?" she asked.

"Lumme! That's a matter for the grown-ups, I suppose," said Yrdl. "Though judging by the way Odessa did things, and as I understand it the fellow who invaded Durmstrang did things, the school belongs to Zajala by right of conquest and I so do wish you could see the look on your own face, Palagina, for it's a study of horror!"

"Well I don't want it," said Zajala. "What would I do with a bunch of idiot Russians? I have my NEWTs to do and then Nigel and I are going to learn how to run some of Dad's businesses. I might BUY Russia one day, but I wouldn't have its school for a gift."

"It's all right," said David Fraser, coming over. "Two of my junior staff have agreed to run the Russian School temporarily. Hawke Malfoy and his wife Lynx Black-Weasley-Malfoy are of pure enough lines to satisfy your foolish prejudices, I am sure, and despite that are also competent enough to ensure that your schooling does not suffer. Hawke was one of the founding staff of the Free School until I poached him. They won't be staying, I don't suppose, but I'm sure they'll find someone suitable. And we shan't saddle you with Hawke's twin Abraxus; you wouldn't approve of his wife. Abraxus fell in love with a juvenile ghost and we helped him with a ceremony to put her back into her own bones with a sacrifice of flesh from Abrax to permit her to be reborn. And she was muggleborn before she died, too," he added.

The young Russians paled. This was magic ritual beyond anything they could possibly imagine; but they did not, for one moment, suppose that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was lying. His reputation for honesty was universal; and besides, nobody would lie about anything as outrageous as that!

David had decided to shock them and awe them deliberately. Abrax and Myrtle would have hated going to Russia in any case, but it did no harm to throw in a spurious reason why they were not sent. David did NOT say that Hawke and Lynx were giggling wildly to be allowed to steal the Cheesycrumpet school a little bit – Lynx's description – and discomknockerate the necromancer of Russia somewhat – Hawke's gloating comment.

They were also to be ably supported by a whole battery of free elves under Dobby.

It was not impossible that the fight was to be taken to Russia, although it was also not impossible that Hawke and Lynx might decide that the task was too great for now, if there was too much Russian opposition. Their brief was as an exploratory one only, to assess the Cheesteeykrovy Shkola, and its children, sow seeds of doubt in supremacist ideals, and find out as much as possible about the relationship the Necromancer had with it, and with Dolokhov. Hawke was an able legilimens. He would discover all he could.

And now it was time to sort the various children out and send them back to their own schools, away from all this unexpected excitement, and as Severus was comforting Yrdl, David sighed and smoothly organised Agata, and Olympe, Engelbert, Jade and Neville. Not that Jade and Neville needed much organising, but Jade was in the habit of obeying someone she saw as a big brother, and Neville had been used to David leading in the MSHG when they were younger than the youngsters here, and fighting Voldemort.

And David then had been one of Severus' able lieutenants too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Please, Yrdl, I am not ungrateful, but what will Harry Crockfort think, if I am to be whisked away to Prince Peak?" asked Iphianira.

"Oh he will be joining you as soon as possible, to keep him safe too, as you have mentioned him," said Yrdl. "And we'll do the ritual on him but a bit less impromptu. Severus is all for keeping friends together. And I'm sure you'll like the Marauders in your class, whether you and Harry decide to Maraud or not."

"Oh, if Harry can come, I don't mind," said Iphianira. "But can his family afford that? And for that matter, what about my fees?"

"Severus will waive fees to keep you safe; he teaches for fun, anyway," said Yrdl. "And you can pay some back by letting him write up the changes to your Malfoy lines, for publishing the chant's effectiveness."

"Oh good," said Iphianira. "And where is Aglaia going to go?"

Yrdl shrugged.

"She must make up her own mind about whether she wishes to return to the Russian school or finish her education with you at Prince Peak. Severus will offer her that option."

"He is kind!" said Iphianira.

"Yes, he is," said Yrdl. "He collected my whole family when they were dying of Black Goblin Fever."

"But that's extinct; even I know that," said Iphianira.

"Not in Germany, where the potion wasn't known," said Yrdl, dryly. "It's now becoming extinct. My little brother Hiob will be in your class, and will tell you what a revelation it was that our sponsor, whose surname we use, raised wand on him not to harm, but to heal his club foot; and that the kindness of the Snape family was not like anything we had know before from Wizards. You are a delightful girl without side or prejudice, but alas, all too rare."

"Well prejudice is silly. The meaning of it says so; to pre-judge. And how can you judge something before you've examined it?" said Iphianira.

"You'll do," said Yrdl.

oOoOo

"I can't go back to the Russian school, Professor Snape! What am I going to do?" Aglaia sounded more panicked than she had ever done in her life.

"Why can't you?" asked Severus, head on one side, plainly meaning her to think about her answer.

"Well, because I wanted to kill Dolokhov, I suppose, because I let Yrdl help me, and everyone sees you as the enemy, and goblins as inferior!"

"And can you not say that if goblins are so inferior, how come it wasn't one of them helping you get your sister back, not a girl who is a goblin, and a year younger than any of your compatriots, and a little girl of thirteen?"

"Your daughter doesn't count; she's Voldemort's granddaughter and she's supposed to be a genius," said Aglaia. "She seems quite a normal sort of pest apart from that."

"She is, and she'd appreciate that you took time to think of that, not label her 'the girl who inherited' as you might say. But if they are so much better than goblins, why didn't they help?"

"Because apparently my beliefs and theirs are entirely erroneous," said Aglaia. "I've never known anyone behave so kindly as Yrdl, and she knows more than I do!"

"Yrdl is an exceptional witch for any race," said Severus. "I doubt she'll win the competition, not because she isn't good enough, but because she's more likely to stop and help others, and treat it as all a bit of fun, not go for a win. It'll be Zyrillis or Lilith, Zyrillis because he wants to show us that Germans of Durmstrang can be as good as the English, or Lilith because she's young enough to throw herself into it heart and soul. And you'd be higher up if you cared enough for your school and schoolmates."

"I dislike most of them cordially," said Aglaia, "but my parents were adamant that I must go to a school that favoured the pure blooded. And I believed them to be correct. What about the contest though? It's magically legally binding, isn't it?"

"It is," said Severus. "Essentially a kind of unbreakable vow. And can you compete for the Russian school if you are not at the Russian school?"

Aglaia sighed.

"I suppose not," she said. "Well, if Dolokhov is not there, it can only be some improvement."

"I think you'll find Hawke and Lynx a considerable improvement," said Severus. "Of course, some of your other staff might be spending time as woodlice, giant rabbits or statues, but that will be entirely up to them. Is that a smile? Much better! And your fellows who came along have seen rather a lot, and I suspect it may have changed them somewhat."

It cost Aglaia much courage to slip her arm into that of Palagina Motyleka, but she managed it.

"Are you coming back to school with us, Aglaia? I thought you would abandon us for Snape's school," said Palagina, with surprise and warmth.

"I am grateful that they have helped my sister, but I am not about to quit my school, especially as the little ones will need us to help them through the transition to a new headmaster," said Aglaia, who had thought that even if almost anyone would be an improvement on Dolokhov, to kiddies Iphie's age it would be a frightening change to have foreigners over them.

"I wish I cared about my brother and if he would be upset as much as you care about your sister," said Palagina. "But he is a boy, and boys can do no wrong."

"Your father is what most English would call a git," said Aglaia.

"What is that, please?" asked Palagina.

"Somewhere between Mudlo and Durak," said Aglaia. Palagina giggled.

"Oh, I was ashamed of how he made the family look at the first task!" she said. "Aglaia, have we been taught so wrongly?"

"I… I don't know," said Aglaia. "My parents are from a family that sends boys to Hellibore's and send girls to what is now Prince Peak; and when they took goblins, my parents said I should go to Durmstrang instead. And it was hard there, in the Odessa years, much bullying, and I hated goblins for existing and stopping me from going to a small school where I could study, instead of having to find places to hide so I could study without my work being spoilt by others. I wish at times they had sent me there; I could have ignored goblins to have the chance to learn more. And the goblins from there and from Hogwarts are not performing by rote. You can believe that they get good exam results by learning by rote, but it doesn't work in something like the Triwizard. You have to actually be quite adaptable and able."

"I wouldn't have liked the tasks so far," said Palagina. "Fedya and I have decided to help the new heads and to learn all we can."

"I think we all need to learn," said Aglaia. "You and Fedya are the nearest I've ever had to friends. Though…. I count Yrdl Breuer as a friend for what she has done."

"I think it would be ungrateful and disloyal to do anything else," said Palagina. "I would be grateful to her for saving my brother, though I do not love him so well as you love your sister. They know more than we; I think that there must be flaws in our education, perhaps related to flaws in ideology."

"I have to say, Durmstrang was a better place to be, and I learned more, once the Odessa crowd were out," said Aglaia. "Can it be as simple as ideology?"

"I don't know, but if the English techniques can give me more than the three grade 'E's I'm anticipating, I will embrace any ideology they care to tell me about," said Palagina.

oOo

Hawke and Lynx came to collect their new charges, Hawke looking arrogant and slightly sneering, which was his defensive face, and Lynx still giggling over the concept of being a junior headmistress.

Aglaia gasped.

Their blood sang with hers!

Hawke shot her an interested look, nodded to her, and then proceeded to explain in faultless Russian that their level of education might not have long to improve in, but that it would assuredly improve without the durak with asses ears in charge.

"At least he wasn't a wereknarl," said Lynx, and fell about laughing.

"Long story, my Russian children, and one perhaps to be told another time," said Hawke.

"We will like to hear it, sir, when you feel ready," said Fedya. He and Palagina and Aglaia stood a little apart from the other three, plainly having fallen into two factions.

Hawke laughed.

"Well, why not?" he said. "When I was at school, a boy in our class was rather an interfering bully, and he made waves about my twin's girlfriend. You heard that one?"

"It's an extraordinary piece of ritual," said Fedya. "Only a fool would interfere with people capable of that."

"He was – and presumably still is – a fool," said Hawke. "Anyway, he was wont to write to the Ministry with his fatuous and opinionated ideas, rather than taking any concerns to the headmaster. So we dressed up Lynx – Professor Black, to you – as a wereknarl, with a spiky wig, after leaving out books which hinted such things might be possible, which so far as I'm aware, they aren't, and he fell for it. He got into dreadful trouble with the Ministry, and we all gloated," he added. "He had also been getting at a girl who was a late developer who had been called a squib, and she was vulnerable. Bullies attack the vulnerable, because they are such weaklings that they can only attack those they think weaker than themselves. The strong protect the weak."

That would hopefully be an object lesson.

Hawke had no real expectation of problems. Younger children accepted new teachers and heads, and force of personality would soon sort out any problems. Having three of the seniors who appeared to be ready to actively help was a bonus. He was expecting the Triwizard contenders to all be perversely loyal to Dolokhov.

He could get a lowdown on the teachers from his bloodsister Aglaia as well, with luck.

It would be fine.

And if Hawke was not quite so insouciant in saying that as his brother would have been, he had learned enough to mean it, not merely say it to make himself feel better as he might once have done.

oOoOo

The other schools managed a return to some semblance of normality after the drama, leaving Hawke and Lynx to side-along their pupils quite firmly to the Russian School. There was some brief excitement to be felt amongst the Blooded, and a few headaches passed around as power was shared to Hawke, Lynx and, to her surprise, Aglaia, and a laconic thanks from Hawke and the message that all seemed quite in hand now, but as the Russian School had acquired a few more statues, the teaching might be a little sketchy.

Severus approached Leesitsa and Domna.

"If you girls feel able to teach for a couple of terms, I'll give you next year's study here for free," he said. "The Cheesty Korova school is short a few teachers."

Domna stared.

"Did you mean to call it the 'Pure Cow' school?" she asked.

"I bet he did," said Leesitsa.

"I did," said Severus. "The pun was too good to pass up."

"When you say 'short a few teachers', what exactly are you meaning?" asked Leesitsa.

"Why, Hawke and Lynx turned several into stone, as retaliation for the Killing Curse," said Severus. "So much less permanent than killing someone; a statue can be brought back, if you want it, and less trouble than guarding a prisoner, who also needs feeding."

"I see," said Leesitsa. "We really should go. Only…."

"You won't be at much risk from the Witch-King of Angmar, Prince Aleksandr that is," said Severus. "Hawke cut his teeth, as you might say, fighting dark wizards; being fully thirteen, he and his twin and their friends participated in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort and his minions. Dear me, that almost makes me feel old."

"I don't think you do old, Severus," said Leesitsa. "I would not have believed it had I not seen your remarkably capable youngsters here."

"We'll go too, just for shits and giggles, and to get things settled," said Zlatko, who was eavesdropping. "We know enough Russian to insult anyone roundly."

"If they need it," said Zlatka. "Just so long as we can pop back at weekends for discussion here."

"Certainly," said Severus. "If you two will go as well, I'm sure all Leesitsa's fears will be settled."

"Yes; they're insane," said Leesitsa.

"One of the would-be Triwizard contestants is distantly related to me," said Domna. "Palagina Motyleka. I have the slightly different name, Motylechova, my family started out as a…. cadet branch; but they got rich along the way. I believe I might manage to bring some of them towards helping. My parents have always been agreed that it is as well to question everything, and my father's father taught him that."

"Then it would be useful," said Severus.

"I'll go too," said Mafalda. "I've only learned the sketchiest of Russian, but I'm sure you can remedy that, Severus, and it would also be a good opportunity to discover whether I like teaching or not."

"Dealing with a bunch of kids encouraged to be prima donnas of the kind that would make most Ravenclaws blench is a long way from dealing with those who… no, actually, I take that back," said Severus. "Corbin's precious loveys probably are just as arrogant, self-opinionated and nasty at the one end, and cowed and miserable at the other as in any supremacist's school. It should test you to the limit, Mafalda."

"I am sure that Hawke and Lynx will advise me," said Mafalda. "I knew Lynx briefly before she moved here, and she was a good prefect. And the Belle Marauders rate the whole of that group highly."

"Yes, and now you are sufficiently self-confident to take advice," said Severus.

"I prefer not to go," said Amos.

"They'd be a strain on your artistic muse," said Mafalda, kindly.

"He'd want to kill them," said Amyetis, "which is why I'm not volunteering. I know my limitations. Experience in teaching I should like, but not in a school where the pupils also need saving from themselves. I have not the life experience."

"And a wise person knows their limitations," said Severus. "I'll arrange teaching experience for you, Princess Orinjade. Mungo, Guy, Ignaz and Elise are also wisely keeping their mouths shut for a variety of reasons."

"Threatening to eat them is not usually considered a viable discipline method," said Mungo.

"Only poisoning in the fourth year," said Mafalda.

"Well, my pupils certainly know their antidotes," said Severus.

Hawke and Lynx sent thanks, and it may be said were especially glad of the Asimov twins. The Russian girls, known as big girls to all but the youngest, would also be an asset in keeping the middle school quiescent.

And the statues might be restored and interviewed one by one, ruthlessly legilimensed, and either returned to the state of statuary, or to their teaching positions.

oOoOo

Krait had spent the time when Severus was sorting out Aglaia in going to see the Crockford family; and collecting Harry Crockford. Once Yrdl had performed the chant, Krait and the other chanters on the staff had rapidly recreated it, and Harry was bemused to be told he was no longer a squib and that he and his friend Iphianira were now to be in the second of Prince Peak and needed to decide if they intended to Maraud.

"Of course we're going to Maraud if the Marauders will have us," said Iphianira, eyeing the thirteen-strong second year firmly and trying to guess who the Marauders were.

"Oh, no time like the present then," said Law Visick, getting out his silver knife and slitting his palm. He could feel that this was going to happen, and might as well happen sooner than later.

The Blooded staff chanters laughed, and joined in.

There were just a few who stood apart. Briefly.

"I WILL Maraud now, I feel able to do so, now life is settled!" said Eva Schiff. "If I may?"

"We always said you might change your mind," said CuHH.

"Oh please," said Gudel, " Cleone and I might help, may we join?"

"And me?" asked Motti Kalinka.

Law handed Gudel his knife and CuHH handed his to Motti. It had been something Law had seen; and almost the entire big class of the second were now Marauders, only Claude LeBatons holding back.

"That's a first," said Krait, as she cheated by summoning cocoa.

"Good for the lot of them," said Dione. "All of them remarkably decent kids. Never going to cause us grey hairs like some Marauding groups, but I am not complaining about that."

"Cor, Iphianira, your sister came good, now tell us all about you and, er, Harry," said Grace. Iphianira was nothing loath!

"Hey, is it true you're Arithmancers?" said CuHH. "Because if so, that's QUALITY because Arithmancy is the basis of all higher magic and mischief and none of us can count our way out of a paper bag."

"And if she's half as good at Runes as her sister, that's a real asset too," said Hiob.

"And Harry can do muggle magic with computers," said Iphianira.

"Gosh!" said Grace, "I know it wasn't nice for you, but I am glad the Durak tried to vanish you so that Yrdl could steal you for us!"

"No tact," said CuHH, which had his fellows poking him for pots calling cauldrons black. Iphianira held Harry's hand feeling ridiculously happy. She could feel him, and she could feel her sister, and she belonged somewhere.

oOoOo

In Russia, Aglaia felt the shock of her sister, and others, joining; and turned to grin fiercely at Hawk and Lynx, who were still muttering 'mobilostatua' to various stone teachers.

"Now she'll never be alone!" she said.

"No; and if she'd been a part of it, that would have been another way to cure her of being a squib," said Hawke, "which is that really happened to Sephara, the girl logged as a late developer. But you can't usually bring people in unless you know they are right; though sometimes there's an emergency," he added.

Aglaia flushed.

"You mean, I'm not right," she said.

"Merlin's bedsocks, you're pricklier than I used to be," said Hawke. "No, I didn't mean that. Your loyalty makes you right. I'm sure that the Marauders were planning on cutting you out at some point, Yrdl just had to jump the gun rather."

"Are Marauders everywhere?" asked Aglaia.

"Pretty much," said Hawke. "Have to get them set up here."

"Isn't that a bit of a tall order?" said Aglaia.

"Meh, if Jade did it single handed in Durmstrang, y'think that's going to daunt us?" said Lynx. "Jade and I went through school together; I ain't about to be outdone by her!"

"We never got marauding started in the free school, mind," said Hawke, regretfully. "It really is a school for magical also-rans, on the whole. Mostly we passed off the brightest and the best to Hogwarts and let them find Marauding there, or not as took their fancy."

"Why teach magical also-rans?" asked Aglaia.

"Why educate a squib?" said Hawke.

Aglaia flushed.

"I see," she said.

"They can, with industry, get better jobs and do well enough," said Lynx, "And it helps increase society as a whole. Muggles have compulsory education for all, which as a lot of them don't appreciate it isn't necessarily a good idea, but it should be compulsory to have everyone taught to read and write and figure at least, so they know what edicts are issued and so on."

"Or use it to read the smutty stories between the pictures in 'Playwizard', said Hawke, dryly. "Yes, I'm a snob. But at least the kids who go to the free school want to better themselves, and that does help them, and their families, and increase industry for greater wealth in society. And the ones like Mort Bane, who's my ward, are the shining lights. He'd have given you a run for your money in the Triwizard, Aglaia, though he was only one of the hopefuls when Jade and Lionel sauntered through it. I have to say that it's a nice close thing this time; any one of five of you in with a chance, and Zajala too on a good day."

"I do have a chance, don't I?" said Aglaia.

"If Lils mucks it up through being overconfident," said Lynx. "But nobody can take exception to losing to Lilith; she's exceptional, and Draxana almost as bad. Richard and Sevnev are quieter about it."

"Do you know everyone?" asked Aglaia.

"Most of them," said Hawke. "At least, those who count, oh good, Sev says he's sending us some substitute teachers."

The five substitute teachers turned up with the faintest of 'Snic' sounds, inside the anti-apparating zone, to the consternation of the Russian sixth formers, a few of whom were covered in purple bindings for trying to help the other teachers. Arkadi Volkhov was also sporting zits saying 'durak' and 'mudlo' as Aglaia and Fedya had both gleefully let fly jinxes at him that they would not have considered doing with Dolokhov in charge, and the bully allowed to do as he pleased. Aglaia recognised with a shock that she was blood-joined to two of the newcomers, the Asimov twins whom she had feared; and that two others had been those girls who had been talking to the Prince Peak contingent during the duel, and were apparently recognised by several of her classmates.

Well, it should prove interesting. And Aglaia felt hot shame that she had been prepared to betray Zlatko and the others to the Russian invaders.

Zlatko came over.

"You came good, Hallow," he said. "It's not going to be easy, but at least we can feel you now. You were one mixed up brat; why on earth didn't you come to m'sister and me and ask for help before even Jade arrived? We would have done."

"I… I suppose I didn't see what help second years could be against the big ones," said Aglaia. "It was easier to keep my head down and hope not to be noticed too much by anyone."

"And we were too busy keeping the bullies off our own backs and the younger twins," said Zlatka. "We didn't notice. And I have to say, we thought any English who sent their kids to Durmstrang must be next door to dark wizards too."

"I don't say my parents wouldn't have supported Voldemort if he'd won," said Aglaia, in a low voice, trying not to cry.

"Well, Lucius did support him until he realised he'd been played for a sucker," said Zlatko. "Apparently he could be plausible enough to get people to believe in him long enough to put compulsions in him. Especially if they had daft-like ideas in the first place, or were people he could work on flattering from childhood. Like he did with the English Deatheaters. School is a great place to brainwash kids."

"Which is what is happening here," said Aglaia, "and I've been a willing part of it. I can feel my sister's friend and he's part goblin and he is quite brilliant."

"Trouble is, it's a drastic way to show someone the truth, and you wouldn't want to be bloodjoined to some of the gits there are," said Zlatko. "And they'd tear us apart while tearing themselves apart."

"Professor Snape said that would happen to me, if I tried," said Aglaia, "But I felt no desire to. Suddenly I didn't need to hate because… because Yrdl had saved my sister, and that was all that mattered."

"Eve was right when she said you were worth reaching for," said Zlatka. "And she turned out well in the end. The most implacable foe is sometimes someone of great worth, fighting for a stupid cause because something has set them on the wrong track, and their honesty and loyalty keep them fighting for it. You're all right, Hallow."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Back in Hogwarts, both sets of Fawcett twins made much of Lilith for going back to the evanesco place where their sister had sent her, but Lilith laughed.

"It ain't as scary when you know how to handle it," she said. "Repelling spells. Ties to people you love. Sorted."

It was generally assumed that Severus had been the anchor for both her and his own pupil, as Sextus had been – the story had leaked – in Lilith's case, and no more was made of it, as Lilith plainly felt it not worth discussing.

When Sextus received an owl at breakfast, Lilith looked at his white face, narrowed her eyes, and sketched a few hieroglyphs in the air.

She frowned, and as Sextus jumped up and took the letter to the staff table, she followed him.

"Sir, can't you DO something?" asked Sextus, passing the letter to David.

David read it, grimly. Miss Scarpin had written a rambling diatribe about how she had missed Sextus over Christmas, and how he was selfish to prefer to spend it with a muggle and his woman, who came from a family of show-offs and concluded with a poisonous comment that Lilith Snape was doubtless sleeping her way to good marks in the Triwizard and would give him diseases.

David winced.

"I can do something about it," he said. "The school quaestor will write to her."

"Will that be enough?" asked Sextus, anxiously.

"It should be, when I point out how many things she could go to Azkaban for with such libel," said David. "I shouldn't think it will come to court. I'll ask for an abject apology and then have the order extended to forbid her to write to you until you leave school, or to write to Lilith, for that matter."

"Thank you, sir," said Sextus. "Talking about my girlfriend like that isn't right. Lilith, why are you here?"

"I read the letter when you went a funny colour," said Lilith. "I wondered if I could, and it was quite true what Se-Osiris said."

"Who, Halfpint, is Se-Osiris?" asked Sextus.

"He's a bit of a hero of mine, because in Ancient Egypt he was the greatest wizard on earth, or even the palace flagstones, by the age of twelve, and he could read sealed letters. So I researched how to do it," said Lilith. "It's a neat bit of divination by intrinsic translocation of concept, which is a bit tricky."

David reflected that 'a bit tricky' for Lilith probably meant out of the league of most other people.

"Crumbs, Halfpint, I didn't want you to know what she said," said Sextus.

"I need to know, in case she starts spreading it," said Lilith. "Smirching the reputations of all the sports ministers for one. She's silly. Do you mind if I do something to make her leave you alone in case Uncle Lucius' quaestor doesn't get through to her?"

"Don't hurt her," said Sextus.

"Oh, I won't, not seriously, anyway," said Lilith. "I'll need your DNA licking an envelope. Because whether it causes her grief depends on whether she opens a letter addressed to you, or not."

"She will," said Sextus.

oOo

Miss Scarpin received two letters in the owl post, one very official looking, from a quaestor, suggesting than an abject written apology was called for over [a] interfering in the work of two exam students, to wit, Sextus Scarpin and Lilith Snape by lies and imputations, [b] filthy calumnies regarding a minor, [c] bringing the Triwizard competition into disrepute with libellous imputations, and[d] attacking the reputations of a selection of reputable men, to wit, the judges, each of whom might have their respective legal representatives serve notice on her if this came to court, as regrettably it would without the immediate retraction and apology to Miss Snape and Mr Scarpin.

The penalties for the various libels were listed.

Miss Scarpin shook with fear and anger. How dare Sextus show a private letter to someone else!

That it might have upset him enough to do so was something she had not thought of, though it had been meant to upset him and make him feel guilty for spoiling her Christmas. And she could not resist the dig at that cocky girlfriend of his. She would have to apologise; the alternative was frightening.

Surely Sextus could not know that this had been threatened?

The other letter was addressed to Sextus in a confident adult hand. It was Lucius Malfoy's handwriting, though Miss Scarpin was not familiar with it, as Lilith found it easier to forge someone else's hand that she knew than to make one up.

Around the seal, in small, neat letters, ran the rhyme,

 _Let any who would break this seal_

 _With full intent therein to pry_

 _Their perfidy shall be revealed_

 _By boils that are a full inch high._

Lucretia Scarpin ignored the small lettering, and tore open the envelope. There was a single page inside, and Lilith's sprawling confident hand was on it.

" _I knew you'd pry. You have a filthy mind to say such things about a kid of 13, and to try to stop Sextus doing well in his OWLs by writing to him like that. I think you should start realising that some of us know how to protect ourselves from dark witches like you, and if I get a promise from you to leave Sec alone, I'll take the boils off. Did you think Voldemort was the only person who can embed a curse with waffling logic into a piece of writing affected by breaking the seal?_

 _Lilith Snape._

 _PS. My daddy's quaestors will be serving you with a notice of litigation as well as the school one doing so on behalf of Sextus. He's a ward of the school. Do remember that you drove him to that. One day he might forgive you, but right now he's talking about changing his name to Pencastle."_

The idea that Sextus would change his name to that of his muggle father probably shocked Lucretia Scarpin more than anything else, and she moaned. She also cried out as she reached to find out why her face felt tight, and discovered it was covered in boils a full inch high.

She did not want to write any apologies, or promise to stay away from her own darling baby boy. But these boils! And they started suppurating too, foul smelling pus.

She hastily, and shakily penned the undertaking, and wrote the apology and retraction called for. Her Sextus would see sense one day when the dangerous little tramp, who was, after all no more than spawn of Voldemort, had shown her true colours to him, and he was hurt and in need of mother love, that the bitch who had married Ashley could not give as she was only some kind of Snape herself.

Lucretia had six NEWTs and no kind of common sense.

oOoOo

Sextus was a lot happier once he had read the apology and retraction and the promise not to contact him until he had left school.

"Though it makes me consider not just doing a year with your dad, but also going into teaching so I never leave school," he said.

"You'll forgive her when you aren't under the strain of exams," said Lilith. "She's a silly and spiteful piece – Ravenclaw – but she is your mum, and she's kinda fixated on you, because it's not easy being a single mother in the Wizarding World, you know, and she put all her mental eggs into the basket of rearing you, and I'm afraid some of them got addled somewhere along the way. You'll feel different in a couple of years, and when we have kids, you'll want them to know their gran."

"Maybe," said Sextus, who was still furious. "Well, probably. You're a forgiving sort of person to consider that, Lilith."

"No, I'm incandescently furious with her, but I got my revenge and I can comfort myself knowing I'm infinitely cleverer than she is, and more creative, and to manage to pity her and feel some compassion for her, and even a little respect that she managed to bring you up alone," said Lilith.

"Actually, my gran brought me up a lot of the time until she died," said Sextus, "but mum did choose to keep me, not put me in an orphanage or anything. I just wish she didn't look on me as a possession."

"Huh, you know what happened, I bet," said Lilith. "She probably went through school ignoring boys and concentrating on her studies, and never had any fun, and when she left, she just let rip, and your dad was part of that. And then she had a baby so she never had a chance to actually grow up properly."

"WHY are so many Ravenclaws dippy?" demanded Sextus.

"Because there's a few poor values floating around," said Lilith.

"I'm tempted to ask to be rehatted," said Sextus.

"Your choice," shrugged Lilith, "But Ravenclaw house could do with sensible oiks like you."

"If I stay for duty, I'd be being a Huffer," said Sextus.

"Stay for Flitters," said Lilith.

Sextus nodded. He was very fond of his house head.

oOo

Valentine's Day would provide the next excitement in the school, and the must-have gift for middle school would-be lovers was a box of Weasley's Snogging Sweeties. Lilith told Sextus that as she had heard all about them from Jade, if he ever dared buy her any, he had better watch out for retaliation. Sextus laughed, and promised not to get any, since any sweetie invented by Marauders had to be a mixed blessing.

It may be said that the adult range that Fred and George had hoped to promote had fallen flat, and had been abandoned. The juvenile range, however was very popular, and muffled squeals of surprise might be heard as the uninitiated were snogged thoroughly by their sweeties before they were permitted to eat them.

The prefects split the school into two for parties, and the party for the little ones was turned over to the eight fifth form prefects. As this included three of the Stripy Marauders, they promptly enlisted the rest of the Marauders to plot; and the youngest were told that in days of sexual equality they all had to go on a mission to find and defeat a monster to find their one true love, and were passed clues. The clues had been hidden about the castle, and the first person to each clue received an edible goody of some kind, which was not necessarily always the same person, and in the case of the Hunting Marauders and Time Marauders, who hunted as a pack, all goodies were pooled to be shared later. The dragon to be defeated was mounted on the quintain used for Halloween games, and bore a suspiciously strong resemblance to Basil the Basilisk, which sock puppet had been unearthed by the Stripy Marauders and called into use.

Having defeated the dragon, each of the participants might go through to collect their prize, a chocolate prince or princess, enchanted by Lilith to change as appropriate for the sexuality of the recipient.

This led to a few surprises as a few of the lads received princes, and some of the girls received princesses.

"How about that, I wrought better than I intended," said Lilith, pleased. "I appear to have enchanted them to orientation not merely physical attributes. I wish I could claim to have been clever, but I wasn't doing it deliberately; I must go over it and see what I did right."

"Applied some of that Malfoy not-divination, I should think," said Sextus. "I say, why are no Marauders gay?"

"To do with breeding and getting genes together rather than just getting it on together, I should think," said Lilith. "It's rather grown beyond a group to support Harry into an entity with its own impetus; one recognises Marauders, a sort of physical and mental shock, and I suspect that it means we recognise those who will best breed the next generation."

"I don't argue with Malfoy hunches," said Sextus, "and it works for Lucius picking his ladies."

The junior party had, on the whole, gone very well, even though one pair of hunters had discovered by dint of stumbling against a certain picture that tickling the pear opened the door to the kitchen, whence they had to be extracted after being prematurely seduced by the feast being prepared therein. The only other mislaid players were Demodocus Graves, who was discovered in the music room, composing a motet, having forgotten why else he was there, and Hermiette Dagworth, who declared this was too babyish for her, and consequently spent a boring afternoon in her own common room. As Lilith said, at least Demodocus was the right sort of dippy Ravenclaw, when she rescued him from the cold music room, used warming charms, wrote down music as Demodocus played, and helped him find his chocolate prince.

Kevin, meanwhile, declared that he had no intention of running too stuffy a party for the older ones, and if they wanted sophistication, they could jolly well do that when they left school. As the majority of the senior prefects were Marauders, SAS, or at least adherents, this was voted a good idea, and those of the senior school who did not have significant others were sorted into pairs by way of lots being drawn, and equally ruthlessly into teams. One of each pair was blindfolded whilst the other had to talk them through an obstacle course, which included eating jam tarts and ice cream with a knife and fork, wearing gloves, climbing over a low wall, wriggling through a tunnel, and paddling out to a small temporary floating island. The party took place in New Zealand of course; the seniors had bagsed it, and the junior prefects had, in any case, felt inside the castle was the best place for their treasure hunt. The blindfolds were swapped over for the other partner to go, and at the end there were small prizes for the team that won, and some individual prizes for most enterprising solutions, silliest ideas, and funniest occurrences.

The older members of the school had demurred somewhat at first, but had soon found that giggling their way through an obstacle course was more fun than they had thought. The prize for most enterprising was awarded to Hubert McLaggan, encouraging his random partner, Phylloxera Sprout, over the wall, by telling her that she should imagine that Voldemort was behind her trying to look at her knickers. Phylloxera shrieked and managed to do what she had been complaining that she couldn't manage, however cross he was. The prefects also awarded extra sweeties to Hubert for not getting cross.

The prize for the funniest event was given to Amabel Quorn, partnered, also by lot, with Randall Corner. Randall had been directing first – not expecting that both partners would be doing a stint blindfold – and had screeched at Amabel, and called her names. Amabel was a peaceable body on the whole, not given to any Ravenclawish excesses and shining quietly in her chosen fields, and she had pulled out the spell of her life to cast both wandlessly and wordlessly – and whilst talking – the spell _paluster_ to make part of the beach swampy, into which she led Randall, and promptly left him there.

As none of the team they were on had any time for Randall, they had no recriminations over losing any chance at a team prize. Amanda Gardiner, who had not been pleased to be drawn in his team, declared that seeing Randall stuck in a bog was the best prize available and the rest of the team concurred. Randall, predictably, threw a massive hissy fit, and Amabel shrugged, and pointed out that he ought to accept that swearing at people and threatening them brought consequences. Randall drew wand, and was promptly neutralised by a selection of prefects, and was shoved boneless, green, tentacled and playing 'who's afraid of the big bad wolf' from his anus and 'Love don't live here any more' from his nose, into the showers.

Kevin regretfully restored Randall as the rest returned from New Zealand. Randall started swearing, and Kevin had no compunction about dropping _langlock_ on him.

"Look, Corner, do you really want to tackle me again?" said Kevin. "You've been a bit better lately, really, do you want to end your school career as a laughing stock?"

Randall didn't.

"I find it so hard to keep my temper when people are being stupid," he said.

"She wasn't so much being stupid, you know, as trying to follow the stupid instructions that left a heap of things out, because you weren't taking into account that she couldn't see the brick to her left that you were urging her to grab," said Kevin dryly.

Randall flushed.

"You're going to tell me to apologise to her, aren't you?" he said.

"You don't need me to tell you, do you?" said Kevin.

Randall nodded; and managed to struggle through an apology to Amabel. He was surprised to receive applause from his former team, and many other Ravenclaws. He flushed and looked pleased.

"Well, all right, I'm sorry I lost my temper and bogged you," said Amabel. "Pax?"

"Pax," said Randall.

The feast could only improve matters for everyone; and the elves had laid on a good spread, with Melton Mowbray pies in heart shapes, heart-shaped sandwiches, the edges of which had already been demolished by those juniors who had discovered the kitchen as a new thing, heart-shaped tarts, and prettily arranged salads and fruits. The elves had also managed to make heart-shaped fortune cookies, with such mottos as 'Confucius say, he who does not gobble does not get heartburn'.

It was generally reckoned to have been a good party.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The sock monster at Prince Peak was making a bit of a nuisance of itself, and Krait christened it Yog Sockoth, and then had to explain about H.P. Lovecraft, and how he may have been a sensitive, but with a will of iron to hide the compulsive whisperings of fey demons in names that were not their use names.

"And anyone who even thinks of trying to find out the real ones is in detention for the rest of their school life," she added grimly. "We do not want the original version of Nyarlathotep from our budding ancient runes scholars recognising the 'hotep' part as meaning satisfied or pleased. And will you stop thinking of synonyms, those of you who are doing so."

"Gosh, Madam Malfoy, how did you know?" asked Liriope Hallow.

"Because coming too close resonates loudly," said Krait mendaciously, knowing that at least one would be likely to do so. "My dear, I'm going to put a compulsion on you not to even think about it, and on anyone else who can't resist. Fortunately most of you who are good at runes are too young to know hieroglyphs or too old to be daft."

"Crow and I aren't too old or too proud to ask for a compulsion even so," said Yrdl. "It's one of those things an academic has to poke at, like your tongue finding a rough place on a tooth."

Krait nodded seriously, and included them in the compulsion.

"Fortunately it doesn't come as easily to me as it does to some of you," she said, "and Professor Granger has far too much common sense. One day perhaps we can set up some safeguards and summon and deal with these entities once and for all, but in the meantime, do enjoy reading the stories and become fixed in your own minds on Lovecraft's own names for them. A quite brilliant man to imprison them with false names to block their entry into the minds of the unwary."

Yog Sockoth as a name for the sock monster, however, stuck. Flo took it in hand, and taught it to dance, which reduced the problem of the monster looming at people; it became satisfied with a brief waltz or quickstep before permitting its victim to go on.

oOo

The newer members of the Questing Marauders had revealed to them by their fellows that Yog Sockoth was, inadvertently their creation, or rather, CuHH's fault, as Grace put it cheerfully.

"It could happen to anyone," said Iphianira, kindly.

"No, it shouldn't have happened to anyone," said CuHH sadly. "I was feeling my oats and had a hubris moment."

"What have oats to do with it?" asked Boleslav, and the very English idiom was explained.

"Well if he is ours, we ought to make use of that, and teach him more dances," said Iphianira.

This had not occurred to any of the others, but seemed an excellent idea to be put into commission straight away. Yog Sockoth was nothing loath, and Spassmacher came to watch and jeer.

When he came too close, and Yog Sockoth tangoed him all the way down to one end of the Great Hall and back again, the children applauded. The Grey Scholar, who had been tempted to comment on the decadence of modern dancing decided to stay silently out of the way. This sock monster did not ought to be able to touch ghosts, but he had no intention of risking that!

As Professor Buffer put it, there were worse things to go through than a quick round of Roger de Coverly with a courtly pile of socks, and it beat looking at Spassmacher's bum through the telescope.

Yog Sockoth joined the Saturday dancing from time to time, and was tolerated, largely because Flo's re-animation of him was rather competent and he was light on his feet.

oOo

Iphianira had no idea how many hoops Severus had jumped through on her behalf. He had visited her parents, who had not been happy to have Dolokhov vanish their daughter – they were fond of Iphianira, albeit in the same way as they might have been fond of a pet dog – but Severus had needed to talk very fast to get them to accept that she had changed schools. He explained that as she was still at risk from Russian supremacists, Aglaia, as an adult in her family, had agreed to the measure for Iphianira's safety. They refused to accept that she was no longer a squib, largely, Severus thought, because it would mean having to treat her as a human, and that would interfere with their world view. Severus left them with the vague impression that Iphianira was studying still such subjects that did not require magic, and was some kind of servant in his school, which Aglaia had expressed an interest in going to for post graduate studies, rather, for some incomprehensible reason, than to Corbin's. They intended to talk to Aglaia about that when she came home after whatever the Russians called NEWTs. And it was easier not to argue with Severus Snape, who was a frightening man.

Iphianira only knew that she and Harry had a lot of catching up to do, but that her classmates assured her that they would manage, and that everyone would help.

It meant remedial classes, which both enjoyed, being academic by inclination, and both received a card of congratulations from Professor Fenwick, and a scrawled note from Professor Pepper inside it telling them that Chemistry would help with Potioneering. Iphianira found that she was now quite competent at potioneering!

The news had broken of a squib-curing chant, and Vladimir Malfoy had given an interview, and said that it would soon be available to the public, once the form had been perfected and it had not been tailored to a specific person as any competent healer ought to manage a curse-breaking chant, since squibbism was plainly shown by research to be the residue of an ancient curse, wrought by those who had cursed House Elves into their short stature and subservient nature.

It did no harm to keep plugging the idea that house elves were the result of a curse.

It might get the idea across eventually.

It was also a dig at St Mungo's, which was steadfastly refusing to accept chanting as a viable healing technique, and was wondering why all the talented healers leaving Hogwarts were going to work in France, or in the new St Bernard's hospital in Germany.

Severus refused to see reporters and issued a statement to 'The Wizarding Times' that his post graduate and senior students had been working hard on the chant, and that though Yrdl Breuer deserved the credit for pulling all the threads together, this was a culmination of the work of many students who would doubtless be listed by Vladimir Malfoy in the learned paper he submitted to 'Transfigurations Today' in due course, where the nature of the squib markers, and their emulation of muggle markers, would be discussed, along with the possibility that some muggleborn were descended from squibs whose heritance make-up with the unsullied heritance of muggles permitted them to flourish as intended. It would help towards acceptance of muggleborn if there was a chance of them being descendants of squibs, as not all accepted the idea that wizards ever slept with muggles. Strang took great delight in turning away reporters trying to gain access to Prince Peak, by telling them that the notice 'trespassers will be turned into statuary' was not a joke.

Severus preferred to turn his mind to the St Valentine's Day celebrations. He preferred a staff-controlled approach to such things, though with the passing through of all Cackle girls, it might be possible to consider leaving Valentine's Day and Halloween to his prefects. On the other hand, he liked them to have fun as well! And in a small school it was a bit unfair to exclude the prefects on the grounds that they were organising things.

Severus arranged for the visit of a goblin paper cutter, working for the Weasleys, making Christmas decorations. He wanted him to use the principles of those decorations which came folded flat, and opened into three-dimensional honeycomb bell or tree shapes. It would teach the children how to make hearts that might be displayed in their full glory on the inside of a card that opened to display them standing proud. The children of course might practise their wand-work to make sticking charms in the dots that joined the many sheets of tissue paper together, or use glue, as they chose. And if some ended up with more glue on themselves than on their hearts, notably those surnamed Hubble, a good time was had by all, and Flo called for a vote of thanks to the craftsman for being so patient in showing them how to do it.

This quite made the day of Avaxar gan Tobal, who had not entirely enjoyed himself, and had wondered whether the fat fee was worth it when Wilhelm Schmitt and Serrik gan Torgar had a glue fight, rapidly broken up by their cronies Zhenga and Fyra, who threatened to reverse gravity and glue them to the ceiling. As the boys had settled down, Avaxar suspected that the girls were not joking and would be capable of doing so.

There were few enough pupils he would consider taking on as apprentices, though some seemed to have a talent. The precise and careful work of Germaine Oglethorpe in the fourth thrilled his heart, though he would have boggled slightly had he known that Germaine had plans to make honeycomb balls of various sizes and with a selection of enchantments, to enable indoor quidditch.

Everyone eventually ended up with a honeycomb heart to be found on opening a card, and if some were a little lopsided, at least everyone had succeeded.

Avaxar was invited to stay for the feast, but was warned that the games right before it might be a little rowdy and was given _kaffee und kuchen_ in the staffroom and invited to stay there until the feast.

The games were to permit the youngsters to let off steam after sitting so long crafting, and involved much running about. Severus and the staff had made a number of fully three-dimensional hearts of a larger size, and team games of under and over were played with those instead of balls, and then the teams had to put on a laurel wreath and tie on a loincloth, each in turn, and fire at a heart with bow and arrow, the heart marked in circles to give score regions. Most people missed the heart altogether and were not worthy of being Cupid, however ridiculously dressed. It was all good fun, however, and nobody particularly cared who won.

The feast was as always on a theme of heart shaped food, and enough of it to satisfy young appetites and discourage other sorts of appetites. Avaxar enjoyed himself too, though a little bemused to be 'Herr Tobal' or 'Monsieur Tobal' or in the case of a few, 'Gospodin Tobal'. It being a holiday, all languages were permitted. He was happy to be invited to stay for the dance – the juniors were dispatched to bed as soon after supper as they might be supposed to have digested – though he was a little disconcerted to be importuned by Yog Sockoth.

Flo, in her capacity of Head Girl, rescued him, by a quick 'excuse me' to Yog Sockoth, who liked dancing with her more than he liked irritating strangers, and Avaxar found himself dancing instead with the Headmaster's daughter, Silvina.

"Flo would expect me to apologise for not leading out our honoured guest herself," said Silvina, "but our resident sock monster at least has good etiquette when dancing, and no manners at all if thwarted. Magical schools collect all sorts of oddities, you know," she added.

"I didn't know," said Avaxar.

"Well, adolescent witches and wizards attract poltergeists – we do have one – and pranks, japes and honest mistakes can produce other odd denizens," said Silvina. "Durmstrang has a stone, one-armed aggressive statue outside that started life as an animated snowman, used to teach some techniques of fighting dark wizards; and inside a feral desk, which got left after the enchantment of several desks for a prank was removed from most of them. The socks were summoned to find odd socks and it sort of went wrong for the kids collecting them. But Yog Sockoth is no problem, just a little vigorous in his dancing," she added.

"I confess, I'm happier dancing with a person," said Avaxar. "I don't know all the steps."

"Oh that doesn't matter; just stick with the rhythm, mirror what I do and have fun," said Silvina. "You're a lot better than half the Hellibore boys; you haven't hacked my shins once, or stood on my feet."

"Do they do that? They must be very clumsy!" said Avaxar.

"Well, now they have a new teacher, I hope they will be better next time we combine for a dance," said Silvina. "We dance here for fun and because the weather is often too bad to get outside, so we need other forms of exercise. Do you have children at Hogwarts, sir?"

Avaxar loved being called sir.

"No, Miss Snape, none of them are old enough; though the Misters Weasley did say they would see they were put in for the exam, the children of all their workers," he added. "They're good bosses."

"Oh we have two of their brothers teaching here," said Silvina, "Mr Percy Weasley, and Mr Ronald Weasley, though we call him Professor Ron, as he teaches Quidditch, which is a more informal subject. If your children are artistic, you should consider putting them in for a scholarship here; we nurture arts and crafts, and I think you spoke to Joran and Werner, who were looking to use spot welding to make honeycomb shapes in metal."

"Yes, they were both full of ideas," said Avaxar, who had been amazed that one had been fully human, the other mostly human, and so keen on metalwork.

"We are a small enough school to permit people to follow their own inclinations and talents, and nurture individual interests," said Silvina. "I suspect that a lot of those interested in metalwork might make simple honeycomb baubles for the children in an orphanage we take an interest in, and I shall be enchanting them to play music."

Avaxar returned home after the ball full of enthusiasm, and hope that his own offspring might prove artistic enough to pass a scholarship to such a lovely friendly school!

Especially as the only spot of trouble was plainly between friends and nothing to do with Wilhelm being human and Serrik being a goblin. Why, it could have been any two goblin boys with more high spirits than sense!

The staff meanwhile had managed to get all the glue off Mildred Hubble-Weasley, Grace Hubble and Adolfa Nachtigall, who had managed to get more glue on themselves than those involved in a glue fight. The staff now looked forward to relative peace in the run up to Easter!

"I suppose we should have invited the senior Hellibores' to a Valentine's dance," said Krait.

"Perish the thought," said Severus. "We have them often enough. Let Hellibore entertain them for once."

"I confess my only motive was the thought of Hellibore's face on meeting Yog Sockoth," said Krait.

"My dear, you relieve my mind! I had wondered if you had succumbed to unSlytherin- like altruism for a moment!" laughed Severus.

"Wash your mouth out!" said Krait.

oOoOo

Hellibore's boys and girls were not supposed to be entertaining thoughts of romance, since the girls were chastely separated, so it is a given that illicit snogging went on largely unchecked, since it was not acknowledged to occur.

Orella and Bettony, still being more or less at truce without the resumption of their former friendship, took opposite stands. Orella took the view that a girl who kissed boys was a scarlet woman, and so Bettony, who did not want to kiss boys, declared that a girl who did not kiss boys was a prude and an idiot. It was her brother who broke up her assignation with Spartacus Mandrake, and after Nicholas had sent his classmate on his way with a flea in his ear, Bettony gasped,

"Oh thank you Nicky! I know it was my fault, but I didn't enjoy that at all!"

"Well why did you kiss him in the first place then?" demanded Nicholas.

"Because Orella says kissing is for scarlet women," said Bettony.

Nicholas digested that. Knowing the origins of the feud, he could almost see the logic.

"Well, I suppose a girl has to kiss a few toads before she meets a prince," he said. "Why not make an assignation with Thorvald Keil? He's more likely to just hold your hand and write poetry than play tonsil-quidditch."

"Is that what you call that sort of kiss? I thought it was just about the lips," said Bettony.

"Huh, it's supposed to happen when you're serious about someone," said Nicholas. "I wouldn't know. I've never kissed a girl. I've heard about it though. Spartacus is the sort who kisses servants. Don't go out with him."

"No, Nicholas," said Bettony, who adored her brother and thought his strictures worth following. "Will you arrange me an introduction to Thorvald as someone to chat to?"

Nicholas sighed.

"Why not? He's someone I wouldn't object to you going out with, or even marrying," he said.

Thorvald was flattered to be offered an assignation by one of the few romancable girls in the school, and managed to find enough sweets in his tuck box to offer her, in a box he hastily made from cardboard. Bettony was much moved and delighted, and they retired behind the quidditch sheds to share sweeties and get to know each other a bit better than was possible with so much chaperonage as was common.

The only other kissing that went on was from Jenyth La Folle and Tansy Willis, since Ismenia Bloom and Felicity Quince decided that it was squishy. The kissing was done more in the spirit of being an illicit pleasure than because either had picked a boyfriend who made them feel in need of being kissed; since the fifteen- and sixteen-year-old precious poppets of Hellibores had less idea of grown-up feelings than thirteen-year-old Lilith and Zhenga, who knew, as Lilith would have put it, where their towels were. Which muggle literary reference would have floored the Hellibores girls quite as much as the concept of lust, and how to both recognise it and what to do about it, if anything.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"You are sweet on my mother, aren't you, Saxdred?" asked Sigismund, directly.

Saxdred coloured.

"There's no point lying about it. Yes, I am," he said. "I suppose you want me to take another job elsewhere?"

"Not at all!" said Sigismund, indignantly. "The others and I were plotting as to how to get her to come off her high horse and admit that she's sweet on you too, and get you together. She worries too much about the parents," he added, "though with that nasty piece of gossip based on nothing being sent to the governors, I should think she'd be more willing to enter into a relationship with you out of perversity. Only that's a bad reason to do it."

"I agree," said Saxdred.

"Oh, well, so long as your intentions to her are long term, I'm quite happy to have a third dad," said Sigismund. "You were aware it means being my third dad, weren't you?"

"No, but if you were ready to look at it that way, I would be more than delighted," said Saxdred.

"Good. And then I can have even more siblings," said Sigismund.

"Now I wouldn't go that far," said Saxdred. "The head…"

"If she accepts that she wants to marry you, she'll accept the whole boiling of what that means," said Sigismund. "I expect she'd have to give up the headship, though, at that point, but I'm pretty certain they'll need a school in Hungary for those not eligible for Durmstrang. Would you be up to relocating, for her?"

"I'd go to the ends of the earth for her," said Saxdred.

"Good, that's fine then," said Sigismund. "We'll just have to go to work on her."

Saxdred opened his mouth and shut it again. The Musical Marauders were very managing, and what they managed usually went very well indeed. He hoped the lovely Agata would not be too irritated by their efforts.

oOo

"Well, how are we going to arrange to get them together without fear of interruption AND without them deciding to not do anything?" asked Bronislava. "A lady likes certain courtesies, and unless he gets around to them…"

"He will, if he sees it's inevitable," said Sigismund. "Aunt Agata isn't being entirely sensible about this; she's not a Marauder, and she isn't realising that they are perfect for each other."

Bronislava went pink.

"And you think Marauders do?" she said.

"Well, I think some needed help, but you and I know we're meant for each other, don't we?" said Sigismund.

"That was a trifle unromantic," said Bronislava tartly.

"I think romantic is for people who've finished their ZPs," said Sigismund, "and acknowledge that we're going to want to get romantic one day, so it doesn't interfere with being good friends before we're ready to settle down to being grown up."

"Oh." said Bronislava. "I suppose that makes sense."

"It might make sense, but can you be quietly icky on your own time?" said Beremud. "And let us know what you planned."

"Well, to stop them being interrupted, I thought we could put a classroom under the fidelius charm overnight," said Sigismund, "and the secret keeper have it written to show them."

"A classroom? That's so far off romantic that they'll never get it on together," said Lindhard.

"Wait! That's where chanting some complex transfigurations comes in," said Sigismund. "We transfigure the desks into a bed, and we use the detention room so they have a toilet, and we leave a carafe of water, and a bottle of wine, and glasses and a big box of chocolates and stuff, and we make it look all romantic and… and baroque."

"All pink velvet and gilt twiddly bits?" said Zoltan. "That's going a bit too far."

"Well, I'm sure we can come up with something if we look in the lifestyle magazines some of the big girls take," said Sigismund. "Sort of icky enough but not too much."

"And they walk out," said Beryx.

"We're going to lock them in, aren't we?" said Corneliu.

"Exactly," said Sigismund, "or rather, we're going to place a one-way lock on the door that disappears at about six in the morning so they can creep back to their own rooms then if they want. "

"And if they're frightfully waxy with us?" said Bronislava.

"Well, I can't see that they would be," said Sigismund. "They both want each other, so why not get on with it?"

oOo

"Your son asked if I was sweet on you," said Saxdred.

"Did you give him an answer or did you box his ears for cheek?" asked Agata.

"I admitted that I was," said Saxdred. "He said he would be pleased for me to be his third father."

"Greedy," said Agata, irritated that her voice shook.

Saxdred laughed.

"He loves you very much," he said. "He wants you to be happy; and bless the child, I don't think he even notices that I'm a goblin."

"I can't say I do, either, not any more," said Agata.

He took her hands.

"Then… may I…."

"I've learned many things, Saxdred; and one is that racism is futile. And another is that one should take happiness where one might. And I intend to do so. And in time I shall have to leave Durmstrang, you know. I'm thinking of taking over the dire orphanages in Hungary where the Czerny child was, that Kreacher told me about."

"I should be glad to help."

"You are a good man, and a true partner, I think," said Agata. "You may kiss me."

Saxdred needed no second invitation.

Things proceeded from that point in a satisfactory direction, and Agata woke up to find Saxdred propped up on one shoulder regarding her.

"Do I still have a job?" he asked.

"Well if you're ready for round two…." said Agata.

He flushed.

"I didn't mean…. I wondered if you were embarrassed and regretted…"

Agata started exploring, and Saxdred took that to mean that she still required her handyman in a variety of roles. He proceeded to take charge of matters, because a man should let his woman know she is valued and that he is able to be in charge.

Roles shifted from time to time in the next few hours and it all seemed good to Saxdred.

oOoOo

Valda was to have her own Valentine's Day treat as Adelard had petitioned to take her and Wennie out for a slap up kaffee und kuchen, and any other friends she cared to bring along.

"Please, would you Marauders like to come out with me?" asked Valda. "I'd like to be able to include you in a treat, and I suppose I ought to ask Simone as well," she added without enthusiasm.

"Poor Simone, it would be nice of you," said Daffodil. "I must say, now you've settled down I prefer you as a friend to Simone."

Valda flushed in pleasure.

"I wish I had known what it was like to be more like you years ago," she said. "I'll go and ask her."

Simone looked up at Valda's approach without any great enthusiasm. Though Simone had made friends with Renate Dunkelschwann, she still resented Daffodil being friends with other people, and why Daffodil would waste time with someone who had been so racist escaped Simone.

"Will you like to come out for a Valentine's kaffee und kuchen, Simone?" asked Valda. "Adelard said I might invite others in the class."

Simone tossed her neat dark head.

"And because the Marauders are too busy, you come to me as second best? I do not think I want to come to your silly treat with your silly boyfriend," said Simone.

Valda shrugged.

"Suit yourself," she said, trying not to feel pleased that Simone had assumed that the Marauders would not be going.

It may be said that Simone cried tears of chagrin and outrage when Adelard turned up and swept off all the Marauders as well as Valda and Wennie.

"Well, I wasn't expecting all these pests, but there are worse pests in the world," said Adelard. "My sister-in-law and her family are involved in Marauding, and so I've learned a bit more about it."

Ilarion exchanged glances with the others.

"In that case, Adelard, we had been discussing something," he said. "We had wondered whether to bring in Valda and Wennie, as much for their own protection as to mark what good eggs they've turned out to be, but it wouldn't be fair to join Valda to a blood pact if you weren't a part of it too, because the Blooded only marry the Blooded."

"Bless my soul!" said Adelard. "Blood magic, eh? I read Professor Snape's book, and I understood almost half of it."

"It ought to open up a heap of divination things you didn't have the chance to develop when you were younger, too," said Xanthos. "It's helped me with my blind spots about transfigurations. And it brought on Cherrytree to become a true seer."

"Well, that might be a bit uncomfortable," said Adelard, "but if it happens, I wonder if it's my duty to do so, in order to have the potential to save lives?"

"It might well be," said Daffodil. "And once you become a Marauder, you won't be bound by life debts, only the one you already have."

"Oh, now that is attractive," laughed Adelard, "Though I'm more than reconciled to the one I do have."

"Oh Adelard, I was afraid there for a minute I'd lose you!" cried Valda. "But… you mean… you would ask me to Maraud? And Wennie too?"

"Wennie will do anything for those who are good and kind!" said Wennie.

"Great," said Ilarion. "Let's drop an observation repelling charm on our table here and get on with it while we have coffee and sticky things to offset the tiredness."

"Observation repelling charms? At your age?" said Adelard. "I thought that was a ZH level concept."

"Library work," said Ilarion. "And Zlatko taught it to me in the first when I was his fag."

"Oh, that explains a lot," said Adelard. "I… yes, I'll do it, if Valda wishes to?"

Valda, all eyes, nodded wordlessly, and Ilarion and Nedelya produced knives. The blooding ceremony left Adelard, Valda and Wennie weak, but totally euphoric!

"Oh Adelard!" said Valda.

"I am joinded to other proud, free elves!" squeaked Wennie.

"Oh my!" said Adelard. "I say, aren't you supposed to assign ruthless Arithmancy to that level of ritual?"

"We did," said Ilarion. "It's a love day, and that negates all other Arithmancy. It's assimilative correlation by association."

"I know. Library work," said Adelard, rather than bothering to query the loose use of ZH terms.

"Library work is the works," said Daffodil.

"Well, as we are all together in this, would Valda mind if I share some news about her family?" asked Adelard.

"I want to share," said Valda.

Adelard nodded, ruffling her hair.

"You're a good kiddie," he said, "and you'll be my girl properly when you're older. But you asked about half siblings."

Valda paled, but nodded.

"You have four, by two different mothers," said Adelard. "One by your father's mistress, who has no class or status, but if you're willing, I'll clear it with the Kaiserin to have them come to Durmstrang? I told the woman that I'd protect her as her erstwhile lover is unable to do more than squawk right now. She was very happy, as he came to her, and took his pleasure in a different way by hurting her," he added grimly. "I've directed all the elves you freed to help her and the children, whom I have in a safe house. There's a girl who'll be starting next year, Dorothea, and she has brothers of five and three years old."

"And the fourth?" asked Valda.

"Konrad is three, like Sigeric," said Adelard, "and he's the child of a part goblin maid whom your father decided to use. Not that he looks very goblin, so I shall make sure he goes on the list too. About time part goblins were let in."

Marlene giggled.

"They already are and it's me," she said. "If he's only three, I can have declared my success in ZHs before he comes in and show how silly pure bredness is."

"Oh well done!" said Adelard. "My sister-in-law is married to a goblin, and I can't see there's any difference. Only trouble is, the mother of the others won't countenance taking on Konrad. I fished him out of the orphanage as his poor little mother had died, and left him in the care of your old nurse. I plan to have all the children to stay, and erode any racism their mother has instilled in them," he said, "so Konrad and Sigeric can be proper brothers."

"And I can get to know them too," said Valda.

"Exactly," said Adelard. "Not easy, I shouldn't think, being the children of a kept woman; we can teach them to be proud to be your siblings, and, er, to consider Marauding. And the two youngest are, I think, the same age as Von Frettchen's oldest so… blood and thunder, he's one of us too!"

He got grinned at.

oOoOo

Alexand was not about to quibble when the Eulenspiegels volunteered to run a Valentine's party for the younger ones, and left them to it. It was the older ones who were potentially more of a headache! The fourth and above were to have a more decorous adult party, though Alexand was not surprised when the Musical Marauders _en masse_ opted out of his party to help with the little ones, though they did promise to play dance music once the youngest were dispatched to bed.

"And we need to fit in our jiggery pokery around Mother and Saxdred," said Sigismund.

"Delayed action charms on the room to be put into operation with a word in parseltongue," said Bronislava.

"Brilliant!" said Sigismund, and Bronislava blushed.

"NO Valentine's necking party for you two until we have the old folk sorted out," said Zoltan, firmly.

Sigismund and Bronislava both blushed.

"I don't think we're quite ready for that, anyway," said Bronislava.

"We need to make sure it's the right time," said Sigismund.

"Good," said Corneliu. "I don't want to trip over the pair of you making out, when my head's full of music. Most offputting!"

He retrieved his ears and fingernails and got them mostly put back in the right place.

The plotters set to, in order to set up the room, and proceeded to then throw themselves into helping the Eulenspiegels to design a tortuous treasure hunt that should keep the youngsters occupied, and too, likely to be poking into the sort of corners where older ones were wont to gather for illicit love-play, ensuring some kind of kissicus interruptus, as Xanthippe put it.

"When I think how much the pair of you were always necking with Zlatko…" said Axel.

"That was different," said Xanthippe. "We were never illicit about it."

This was undeniably true, and Axel retired, bested.

It may be said that the Eulenspiegels knew how to run a good party, and the first three years were soon charging about the castle following clues, and being rewarded for being the first to any particular clue with a few sweeties, the main prize being a big box of chocolate cauldrons. As some of the sweeties were English snogging sweeties, there were a few very surprised recipients of the lesser prizes. It is probably that the volunteer helpers had more fun than many of the rest of the older ones, who played a number of traditional games before the shared feast. Nobody noticed that the Musical Marauders slipped away from the feast early, nor that Zoltan and Sigismund approached Agata and Saxdred respectively, and begged that they read a letter. They had surpassed themselves in managing to embed a compulsion to go to the room under fidelius charm, which crumbled as soon as it had been read. Neither Agata nor Saxdred noticed it crumble, and went straight to the room and in the door, which was gleefully locked.

The compulsion fell away as soon as they were both in, and they looked at each other, and at the rather baroque bedroom with which they had been provided, the wine and kuchen, and the note in Sigismund's handwriting, saying 'just get on with it.'

"Cheeky monkeys!" declared Agata, in some dudgeon.

"They mean well," said Saxdred. "And they weren't to know we had already, er, got on with it. And while we're here…."

Agata checked the locked door, which did not succumb to _alohamora_ , and checked the other door.

The former detention room lavatory was now the sort of bathroom which would have delighted any rococo prince, and had a deep, wide bath with ever-warming charms on the water.

Agata laughed.

"Oh, well, they thought of everything for our comfort," she said. "Part of me is loath to play their games, though."

"Oh play the games," said Saxdred. "How pleased they will feel to believe that they have achieved an act of cupid; we need not tell them we were already lovers, my darling Agata. It would fill them with chagrin, and they have gone to a lot of trouble to overcome any constraints they may have thought between us."

"One of the things I love about you, Saxdred, is the way you are so very restful and easy going when there is no need to be anything else," said Agata. "I also like it that you are not afraid to say what you want or what you think."

"I believe, meine Leibling, in a partnership," said Saxdred, simply.

Agata, who secretly liked a man she could not bully, proceeded to do something that would have almost shocked most of her pupils, and snuggled at him.

Matters proceeded along most enjoyable lines thereafter, and the couple fell asleep, with only a passing thought to hope that the prefects and staff might have contained any mischief.

oOoOo

Alexand checked all of those at the dance on the school registers, with ruthless efficiency to make sure that there was no single person, or worse, couple, missing. Discovering that he was short two fifth years, he passed tea to Eve and Sofie, and divining rods to Zyrillis to find what had happened to Herwald Langbessen and Bianka Zhikova, who were generally reckoned to deserve each other, but not in too intimate a way just yet.

"We could do an engulfing charm on them and bring them right here," said Leva, hopefully.

"And what if they are, er, _in flagrante delicto_?" asked Alexand.

"Might embarrass them into not doing it again," said Sofie.

"A bit harsh," said Elfleda, who was waiting for a bit of a necking party with Zyrillis if she could manoeuvre him into a corner.

"Too unkind," said Kjell.

"Oh well, it was a thought," said Leva. "Shall we marauders go round them up when you've discovered where they are, and by the way, why don't we use the Marauding Map?"

"What's that?" said Alexand.

"It shows where everyone in the castle is," said Leva.

"Well, you pests can sort out finding them and returning them then," said Alexand.

"WHAT you have talked us into!" said Elfleda. "I was looking forward to dancing."

"Then we'd better be quick," said Leva, unrepentantly.

The Marauder map showed the location of the errant pair, and Leva frowned.

"That's odd. The Kaiserin isn't anywhere in the castle."

"Are you sure?" asked Kjell.

"Of course I'm sure," said Leva. "Maybe she has a date elsewhere."

"Oh well, good luck to her," said Kjell, shrugging. "You don't have a bad feeling, do you?"

"No," said Leva. "And if she does have a date, I won't disturb her by asking an elf to check where she is. TOO intrusive."

"Leva achieves tact?" laughed Kjell.

The Jade Fag Marauders were a little above the childish jinxes of switching body parts or setting them flying off, but Kjell's hair stood on end, transfigured into miniature jarveys and shouted abuse at him. They went to find Herwald and Bianka, who were startled in their cleaning cupboard to be berated as no better than they should be, by the last remaining hairy jarvey.

"Come on, you know the rules," said Kjell.

"And be thankful the little pests in the lower school haven't got you taped with view-o-sneaks as we did in our pestiferous years," said Leva.

"You never grew out of pestiferous years," said Herwald, "but I am glad none of them have. If Heinrich had such an idea, he'd be blackmailing me for the rest of my school life."

"He's a useful quidditch player, but if he'd do that to his own brother, he's a tick," said Sofie.

"He is a tick," said Herwald. "At least our sister Hortensia is capable of giving as good as she gets when she comes in, next year. And I'll make sure she's my fag, or someone else's, not his."

"You're all right, Langbessen," said Sofie.

"But excuse me," said Bianka, "what is it that makes you Marauders think that you should be guarding our morals?"

"Not us, Bianka, the head boy," said Leva. "We are but the messengers, as you might say, charged straitly to bring forth those missing from the dance, and I seriously suggest you both slip into the lavatories first and sort yourselves out, you look thoroughly mussed. And covered in cobwebs," she added mendaciously, knowing that this was enough to keep Bianka out of cupboards. Bianka gave a little shriek, and Leva reached round and brushed off her ear and made as though grabbing something. "There, no more spiders," she said.

Bianka could not get out of the cupboard fast enough at that point, and treated Herwald to a brief burst of Bulgarian that was entirely lost on him.

The dance proceeded in an orderly fashion with all the participants de-cupboarded, and Zyrillis managed a shy kiss with Elfleda during the last dance, mostly out of sight behind one of the suits of armour.

oOoOo

Sigismund went to let his mother and Saxdred out first thing in the morning, and forbade the others to join him, in case they were waxy. He took coffee and rolls.

"Young Sigismund, locking people in bedrooms is not to be condoned," said Saxdred, "But bringing rolls and coffee mitigates the offence."

"I was afraid you might not get together for some silly reason without a bit of pushing," said Sigismund.

"The lot of you are very capable, and I wasn't best pleased with you last night at all," said Agata. "You realise this will mean the end of my tenure as head of Durmstrang? Once it gets out, and it will, some people will be outraged, and I should like to marry Saxdred, not keep him as a guilty secret."

"Oh that's very nice!" said Sigismund. "I rather assumed you were going to go and interfere with schools and orphanages in Hungary, and that Uncle Attila would be Headmaster. Though that means a new transfiguration professor, I suppose," he added.

"Cheeky brat," said Agata. "It's up to the governors… oh well, I expect Von Frettchen would take my recommendation, and bully the rest of them."

"That's what I thought, too," said Sigismund.

"You think too much," growled Agata.

Sigismund beamed at her; then he hugged and kissed her, and hugged Saxdred too.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Valentine's Day was made much of in Beauxbatons, and celebrated with a ball. The younger forms were obliged to attend the first part of this, as social training, and nobody considered it at all odd for eleven year olds to wear formal gowns and gloves. Pharamond grinned, recalling Darryl's horrified comments the previous year, but any chance to dance with Philomène was all good in his book. It might be nicer to have a jolly party in some ways, but Darryl had bucked enough tradition, and there was only so much that Madame Maxime would put up with.

Pharamond did gather the senior marauders and chant up an age exclusion line with a temporal component that would fade after the weekend. With Valentine's Day being on a Sunday, there was all weekend for the school to get into trouble, and a number of Valentine's balls, both private and public, which were technically forbidden to the pupils. Pharamond had no illusions over the concept of some of the dippier members of the sixth sneaking out anyway, and hoped that the age exclusion line would keep them in.

With due consideration he also warned Desolina, who was within the age he had picked, nineteen, to deal with anyone who might be older than he realised.

Desolina laughed.

"I had no intention of leaving the castle over the weekend, but thank you for the warning!" she said. "A brilliant idea, and I like the idea of a temporal decay. I don't think I can actually teach you a lot more; Darryl Zabini wrought better than he realised. But of course, you and your friends are Marauders!"

"It does mean that library work is more or less _de rigeur_ ," agreed Pharamond.

It may be said that the age line led to several girls being dressed up with suddenly nowhere to go on Saturday night, and some mutters of discontent that the staff had become altogether too noticing and paranoid.

Pharamond just smiled. If they thought it was the staff, the idea would filter down the school that forbidden bounds breaking was taken care of ruthlessly. And Philomène might do it next year and the year after, and teach the next layer of Marauders to take care of trouble when she had left.

oOoOo

The free school had no problems with Valentines' Day, since the pupils were day pupils and what they chose to get up to on their free time was up to their parents and no responsibility of the school. The goblin and part goblin girls tended to be quite strictly trammelled in their behaviour, as there was still a high degree of sexism amongst the poorer goblin community; and though Neville suspected that some of the older human girls might be using their school knowledge to brew contraceptive potions, at least that was better than producing unwanted babies because of the degree of shame still attached to purchasing contraceptive potions amongst the lowest in society. And if they made money out of it on the side by selling it to neighbours without education, that was merely enterprising. Neville was more interested in the snogging tulips that Myrtle Malfoy had developed and given to him and Sephara as a gift. The assimilative correlation by nomenclature, or at least by awful pun, on two lips was delightfully well applied, and if it was a little disconcerting at first to be bussed firmly by one's pot of flowers, one became used to it. Sephara had written about the tulips to her sister Ludmila, who had declared the idea 'awesome'.

Riker had sent a Valentine's Day card to Zephyra, and had, indeed, received one himself, written in her forceful handwriting. If they remained an item, it was merely a shame that Zephyra was not taking any of the newer subjects to NEWT, to offer to Madam Maxime; however, as she was a very fine arithmancer, perhaps there might be a post for her teaching it as a remedial study. Riker was not a youth who naturally eavesdropped, but he had picked up that his own professors did not much rate the Beauxbatons Arithmancy professor. This might have been more for her personality than for her effectiveness, but he had heard the charge of unfair marking being levelled, which did rather speak for itself. He would get his own feet well under the table before suggesting it! Assuming that he and Zephyra were still an item. And perhaps she would take a year at Prince Peak, under the patronage of the Madams Malfoy and undertake intensive study in something like Comparative Magic. Both Storm and Zephyra were keen to learn all they could, and cover more than the basics they had learned at the free school! And perhaps, at that, she would prefer to teach at the Parisian free school and commute, if they married; or perhaps she preferred a job other than teaching, like social work with the poorest. It was, after all, what the ladies of Madam Narcissa Malfoy's society did. And Storm and Zephyra were both keen members of the junior branch.

Riker shrugged. What would be would be, and there was no point making plans without discussing them with Zephyra, and indeed, without knowing if they would still be an item this time next year.

oOoOo

After the spectacular success of both the freeing of the cursed ghosts and the snogging sweeties of the previous year, the Marauders of Schloss Adler felt that any attempt to mark Valentine's Day this year would fall flat by comparison. The First Eagle Marauders decided that something had to be done, but it could be no more than a jape, and consequently cursed every book in the school not a story book to turn into a deck of cards made entirely of hearts, when picked up. This was a spell for the Sunday of Valentine's day only, as nobody had any right to be studying on a designated leisure day anyway. It may be said they wrought rather too well, and there were a few mildly irritable people who had wanted to read the Sunday newspapers or learned magazines over breakfast, but Jade rapidly freed periodicals from the curse and left the rest in place.

Sometimes it was worth making the point about enforced leisure. And the day was to be marked by a masked ball, and the children kept occupied making their masks on a basic papier maché base, with feathers, glitter, sequins and beads to decorate them, and cardboard to fashion beaks if required for a truly decadent Venetian effect. Colour change charms were encouraged, with precision of use to aim at different parts. Secrecy was also encouraged, outside of the prefects helping the little ones, and the reason for this became clear when everyone was issued with a number to wear on their backs, and a prize offered for the person who guessed the most. This was Zaly, who said dryly that it was no real virtue, since an elf's life could depend on recognising people. Lelli and Madelgarde exchanged looks over this; never had Lelli's life depended on recognising people, and it was a shock to a pair of rather sheltered little girls that this might be so.

oOo

Wilga, Kornelia and Krystel were not taking part in the Valentine's party, as Jade and Wolf had permitted them to have the weekend at the Kirsch family home. Wilga was, in many ways, needier than poor abused Emese and Elfriede, having lost all her belief structure in the certainties of life, and Herr and Frau Kirsch were determined to turn her into a normal little girl. Wilga now wanted to be a normal little girl; she wanted the sorts of cuddles that Kornelia and now Emese and Elfriede had, and leaned into Frau Kirsch.

Kornelia sighed and did her best to turn Wilga into a sister.

"Maybe we should blood her in," said Kristel after they had returned to the castle. "I know she's not awfully good Marauder material, but you know, it would help her to understand an awful lot more."

Kornelia frowned.

"Well, we wanted to bring in Emese and Elfriede, and if Mama and Papa are going to adopt her, it would be more comfortable if she was more…. Well, a sister."

"Perhaps we should ask the Heads about it," said Kristel.

Kornelia giggled.

"Which shows your advanced age," she said, "because if Marauders think it's a good idea they tend to go ahead regardless of asking grown ups."

Kristel shrugged.

"Well, it isn't any standard reason to bring anyone in, is it? It's to protect vulnerable younger ones or because people are ... well, RIGHT to maraud."

"I tell you what," said Kornelia, "I'll talk to our lot, and we'll see about asking her if she'd like to Maraud. If she would, the rest is easy, because if she wants to Maraud, Marauding will want her."

oOo

The ten-strong Valentine Marauders held a Marauding meeting, and managed to do so without alerting Wilga as all the girls were in a different dormitory to her. Kornelia put Kristel's idea to the others, and her own suggestion that if Wilga wanted to Maraud, she would be Marauding material.

"It does go against the grain as she's been such a poor prune, but Marauders are supposed to help, and if it helps you accept her as a sister, and makes her be a better sister, then it's not a half bad idea," said Yrmiot.

"We have to take into account that she's had some rotten ideas, and if someone who had a bad upbringing like Zsombor can turn around, so can she," said Greniz.

"She's been hurt as badly as I have, in some ways," said Anghel. "I vote we offer the opportunity to be a Marauder; she was decent over being part of owning up to the musical jape that went cacophonic."

"And she doesn't have a mother," said Florenzia.

"Heh, that might be an advantage, actually," said Darna. "Some goblin women are awfully downtrodden and teach their daughters to almost worship menfolk. And her pill of a father would have wanted that sort of wife, I bet! I'm afraid our adopted sister, Gundi, isn't going to be any shakes as a Marauder, and unless we help her grow a backbone she's going to be just such a woman as that."

"Truth," said Hilder. "But at least she'll be in our year so we can look out for her."

"In a way, it's a pity she and Mechta were sorted that way round, because Erleva said Mechta is pretty feisty," said Kornelia, "only Erleva and Ervig don't Maraud."

"I guess the heads picked volunteers in a hurry," said Wilhelm. "And if this Mechta Marauds, it might draw them in, and I shouldn't really object to Erleva if she wanted to come in. I vote we give Wilga a chance to Maraud. You can explain it to her, Kornelia; you're her nearest relative."

Kornelia was not a talented transfigurationist, but some transfigurations were the province of corridor curses, and with the aid of some hastily sketched runes she managed to merge Wilhelm with the cloth that did duty as a tablecloth, which became butterfly wings, and with the featherlight charm on him, fluttered him randomly about the room.

Wilhelm managed to regain his normal weight, and tried, vainly, to remove the wings.

"If I cried pax, will you remove them?" he asked Kornelia.

"I'm not actually sure how," said Kornelia.

Wilhelm, who was fairly phlegmatic, shrugged philosophically, shedding iridescent scales.

"Oh, well, I'm sure someone will undo me in the ECC meeting," he said. "We may need a new tablecloth though."

"I think they're rather fetching," giggled Florenzia.

"Yes, they'll fetch me to have to sleep on my front," said Wilhelm.

They went back to bed, giggling.

oOo

Wilhelm was duly rescued from durance lepidopteral by Biirta, who knew how to reverse engineer the runes that had caused his metamorphosis, and said severely,

"I'm not sure I want to know how that happened."

"You don't, Biirta; it was a private argument," said Wilhelm, cheerfully.

oOo

"Wilga, you know what Marauders do, sort of, don't you?" said Kornelia.

"Yes, they stop bullies and unkind people like my father and that….that man," said Wilga. "And play tricks. Though I'm not sure why they play tricks."

"It's because of stopping bullies," said Kornelia. "We pull tricks that need us to find out how to do things that aren't in lessons, so we have more tools to fight dark wizards and bad people. You see," she frowned in thought, "All most people want is a quiet life in as good a job as they can get; and that's what school can do for people, give them the learning to get a good job, if they work hard, and then they can get on with their lives, and hope not to have trouble in it. Marauders need to learn more, to deal with the people who want to interfere with others."

"I suppose that's logical," said Wilga. "They make you choose to do all that extra awfully young."

Kornelia chuckled.

"I suspect most of us chose Marauding with a – an insouciance that was not especially well informed," she said. "It's not a kids' gang, it is a life time commitment, with ties to each other, to all marauders, that are as deep as family, or deeper. And any marauder comes to help another without thought for personal safety, because it's tied up with love and blood magic."

"Isn't blood magic about sacrificing virgins?" said Wilga, apprehensively.

"No, you poor prune, it's about sharing blood willingly and being prepared to add blood willingly to certain rituals," said Kornelia. "A goblin steel knife quenched in the blood of its maker might….might cut anyone who tried to use it against its blood, or turn into a banana for anyone not of the kin of the maker. But when Herr Harry Potter was being persecuted by Voldemort trying to kill him before he grew up, a group of people shared blood with him, so they would always know where he was, so they could rescue him, and so they could bleed instead of him if he was attacked, and bounce the killing curse around between them."

Wilga gasped.

"Is then the junior head so old?" she asked "She has the zig-zag scar…."

"I think she and her sister were brought in before they were school age, in case they were kidnapped," said Kornelia. "But anyway, they did that for Herr Potter, and discovered it was very much more profound than they realised because any one of the group could be helped at need, because it was a sharing in love. And no, I don't mean helping with things like a Triwizard, that so would be cheating."

"I – I don't think that Frau Von Luytens would ever do anything like that, though I know my father would have thought it all right to do so," said Wilga. "But I'm learning that anything he thought was all right is probably at least half wrong."

Kornelia gave her a hug, and Wilga leaned into it. Her snobbish side was still there and gratified to be hugged by a pure blood witch, but mostly she wanted affection.

"You had a rotten start," said Kornelia. "And you've been trying so hard with Emese and Elfriede, and…. Well, I've talked to the others, and we wondered if you'd like to Maraud. But it's a big thing to ask of anyone who hasn't grown up interfering in things that aren't their business, or wanting adventure, and if you choose to be one of those who prefers a quiet life and a nice job at the end of school, none of us will think any the worse of you. But if you wanted to, you've shown an awful lot of courage in facing up to things, and we would be pleased to welcome you."

Wilga flushed.

"You… you really mean it?" she asked.

"Wouldn't say if I didn't," said Kornelia. "You have been an awful tick, Wilga, but it's not your fault. And you're trying hard to find out what it's like to be more normal. Sorry, didn't mean to be insulting."

"I didn't even know I wasn't normal," said Wilga, bitterly. "HOW I hate my father! And… and you mean we would share blood and… and it would be like having real family, but I have to be ready to fight creeps to have it?"

"Put baldly, I guess that's about it," said Kornelia.

"Well I will," said Wilga. "I want to fight people like my father, and I want to have family. It's been really nice being treated as though people like me since I got disowned, and… and I want to be friends!"

"Well, that's the best thing ever, because to get friends you have to be one," said Kornelia, and all the other Valentine's Marauders walked in the door as she had pulsed them.

"Welcome to Marauding, Wilga," said Ervig. "You'll understand a heap more stuff in a minute."

He handed her a silver knife, and all the others were getting out their own knives, and slitting palms.

oOo

Jade almost dropped her cup of coffee.

"Did you feel that?" she said.

"It would appear, mein liebling, that Wilga gan Heran has become Wilga Kirsch in a bigger way than anticipated," said Wulf, mildly. "And feel her joy and understanding. Those children sometimes amaze me with their remarkable insights; I think they are some of the best marauders ever at understanding other people."

"I am inclined to agree with you," said Jade.

oOo

"I want to change my name," said Wilga.

"Oh, I'll write to Mama and Papa and tell them to change you legally to Kirsch," said Kornelia.

"No, I want to choose a use name for myself that HE didn't choose, and that is either a K like you and Kristel or an E like…. Like our other sisters, and will you blood them too?" said Wilga, suddenly wondering.

"Oh, probably; they feel strong enough to maraud," said Kornelia. "But I wanted to see if you wanted to be our sister properly first."

"You are kind to me, and I have been unkind to you," said Wilga. "But I think I understand a heap more things now. And I want to be someone else. Wilga gan Heran is a not nice little girl, and a…a poor prune."

"Would you rather be a K or an E?" asked Kornelia.

Wilga considered.

"It would be better if I was an E," she said. "The K is for the Kirsch girls who are born to it."

"Perhaps it would be a nice idea to write to Emese and Elfriede and ask if they would like it too?" suggested Kornelia. "And then you can think about names. I don't know much about goblin names."

"I'll use a human name because he'd hate it," said Wilga, grimly.

An owl was duly sent, with one letter, rather muddled, from Wilga, and another, somewhat more coherent, from Kornelia, and by nightfall Wilga had an answer that Emese and Elfrieda would be very pleased if she wished to share their initial letter.

"And I have a wonderful idea," said Kornelia. "Because if you were Ekaterina for best, the short form is Katti, and then you should be both an E and a K."

Ekaterina Kirsch hugged her sister and they went to inform the heads of this decision.

oOo

"Those babes really will never cease to amaze me," said Jade. "Still, my mother, after all, changed her name with a change of life, when Dad took her out of the orphanage. Who knows who Augusta Day is or was? Krait Malfoy-Snape, however…"

"Is universally known, loved by the righteous and should be rightfully feared by the duraks," said Wulf.

"Precisely," said Jade. "One day I hope Katti Kirsch will be able to make almost as much of a mark."

oOoOo

The Russian school did not celebrate Valentine's Day in the normal way, and the atmosphere was not exactly loving in any way since its rather forced takeover. The new staff, by mutual consent, acted, however, as though nothing was amiss, and treated the pupils with the same consideration as they would have considered appropriate in any school.

This led to Mafalda, who did not consider herself to be at all motherly, to be the recipient of sobbed confidences from a small girl who was being systematically bullied, and Mafalda took the matter to Lynx.

"Just like Durmstrang," said Lynx. "The only way to defeat bullies is to teach the brats to fight back; we'll have to institute an English Customs Club as Jade did in Durmstrang, because we can hardly have a Muggle Studies Customs Club in a school where as yet muggles aren't even acknowledged as sentient."

"My parents would have been very happy to send me here," sighed Mafalda.

"How's the lawsuit going?" asked Lynx.

"Mr Malfoy is shredding them," said Mafalda. "And if they hadn't been so ready to make me study all my waking hours in the holidays, I'd have asked him not to, but Professors Dumbledore and Black and Fraser are quite right, and it was abusive. This poor kid isn't doing as well as her sister thinks she ought to, and of course the stress is making her perform even less well. I recognised it at once. And when I taxed her with it, out it all came."

"Well, now we can work on that from an earlier age than you got help from," said Lynx, whose grammar had not improved in her years of teaching.

"Indeed we can," said Mafalda, who had a lot of fellow feeling for small Svetlana Byesova.

Hawke duly made an announcement at supper.

"The faculty have decided to follow the custom of a number of other schools, and open an English Customs Club, which convenes at five thirty in the mornings to run," he said. "Here, one might learn something about the English, and also forms a forum to air personal problems and learn how to deal with bullies. I have only ever met one bully with the fortitude to put up with running at such an hour, and he learned how not to bully. And that was me," he added, "though later another boy was almost as unspeakably brave as me."

Lynx giggled.

"And this is where we learned how to fight dark wizards and people trying to invade, and got to have a shot at Odessa types as soon as we were old enough to circumvent any measures the professors took to exclude us," she said.

"Please, Gospoda Malfoy, how old was that?" asked a boy in the third, Palugina's brother.

Lynx beamed at him. "About your age, Gospodin Motylek," she said.

If they could get an ECC up and running, and get to know the children informally, then it might be possible to bring her and Hawke's children. Lynx had hated leaving her three children behind, but with the hostility, it had been the only decision. Leona Pardis was big enough to get into trouble, at five years old, and Felice Ariel and Merlin Harrier at three and two respectively were unaware of danger and mobile enough to find it. And if Lynx suspected she might be pregnant again, well, that was a bridge to cross later.

In the meantime, she had the worshipful attention, as did Hawke, of the Motylek boy. Well, maybe that was a start. If the idea of fighting dark wizards for sport could be instilled in them, the idea of fighting the Meerkat and the Necromancer might not frighten them as much.

"Dear me, I am sure we caused our professors many grey hairs," said Hawke, cheerfully. "And I must say we look forward to finding out what sorts of japes and pranks you play in Russia; the old deadfalls of spiders and doorways that cure you of not being a tiger that one finds in Britain are a little passé when you've been teaching any length of time, I'm sure with your clever knotwork we shall be seeing patterns embroidered on sheets to summon endless streams of frogs or something like that, at least if the ritual magic of the third years at Prince Peak is anything to go on. It should be very entertaining to have different japes to deal with."

He was being stared at with open mouths. The idea of playing japes did not appear to have occurred to most of the children, and Sergei Motylek looked horrified that he might be expected to know such level of ritual. He raised his hand.

"Yes, Gospodin Motylek?" said Hawke.

"Please, Sir, we have not learned anything like that in class," volunteered Sergei.

Hawke beamed on him.

"Why, Gospodin Motylek, that is what library work is for," he said. "Though I shall be running an inventory of your library to see that there are no books that are harmful to young people. I doubt Voldemort, sundry members of the Prince family and an unpronounceable Barvarian are the only people capable of embedding curses in the written word to entrap the unwary."

There were some gasps at that.

"Is that even possible, sir?" asked Palugina.

"Oh yes, Gospoda Motyleka," said Hawke. "Voldemort protected a work from which he had learned much with a handwritten curse, which gave as much pleasure to the reader as the Cruciatus Curse gives pain. Why was that a curse?"

Palugina flushed.

"Because they wanted it over and over?" she said, tentatively.

"Excellent, you understand the dark arts in their subtler forms," said Hawke. "Yes, anyone reading it who had not a will of absolute iron would sit there re-reading it until Voldemort could find them and….dispose of them. It was discovered in the Hogwarts library by a child wise enough not to read handwritten notes after having had a warning about the same from the Divination teacher. One of the reasons England rates Divination as needful, if usually only studied by the terminally dippy," he added.

This was something to digest as well, since Russia tended to despise Divination outside of the true seer.

"This teacher was then a true seer?" asked a lad beside Sergei.

"No, lad, she is a retired insurance diviner, who had hunches. And the staff and pupils of Hogwarts have learned to respect her hunches," said Hawke. "Right before the last Triwizard task, she knocked on our door and told us to pack, and make arrangements for our young children for a little while because we were going on a journey. We packed," he added.

"I find people," said Zlatka. "I couldn't divine any further than that Spring will follow Winter, but with a material component, I can find anyone, anywhere."

She did not mention that with the use of blood magic, she had even managed to find the son of a Governor of Durmstrang who had been under Fidelius charm. Some things were worth keeping secret. Zlatka had legilimensed Von Teufel and found his motives pure, and passed him an address written down. Essentially she had bypassed the secret keeper after the manner of house elves, and that was something powerful beyond most finders.

"Will we learn Divination?" asked Sergei's companion.

"I will certainly ask Gospoda Asimova to teach a voluntary class if there are any who are interested," said Hawke, making a sudden decision. "Good point, Gospodin, uh, Mydretsov."

Hawke smiled gently as the boy marvelled at how the new head knew his name. Legilimensy was a very useful skill for a headmaster!

The children were no different to children anywhere. Once the bullying was suppressed and the prejudices gently eroded, they would be no more problem.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14.**

Lucius was fairly certain that Michelle Gardiner had been crying; and he wanted to know why. He was very fond of his red-haired helicopter pilot; not fond in the way of being susceptible to her, but fond as one who had become a friend. She was friendly with his girls, too, which was a bonus, and her kids were great kids and well worth sponsoring.

"You're going to tell me about it, Michelle, sooner or later," said Lucius, appearing from behind her on his customarily cat-like tread and firmly manoeuvring her onto an arbour bench, absently summoning coffee just the way she liked it.

Michelle had never quite got used to the idea of summoned food and drink, but she sipped it gratefully anyway. She did know enough to be aware that elegantly summoned beverages that did not disappear from the stomach were the province only of the most skilled wizards; but then, arguably, Lucius was the most skilled wizard there was, with the possible exception of his friend Sev. Sev Snape never did the flashy sort of magic that so delighted Lucius, but Michelle knew how much her employer respected his skills.

She sighed.

"It's Roger," she mentioned her ex-husband. "I won sole custody, but he's making waves through his lawyer that he wants to see the kids and half threatens to have them kidnapped if I don't agree."

"Do you really think he can do that to our own?" said Lucius, making a mental note to get the younger ones blooded as soon as was feasible.

"Probably not, but it's going to cause unpleasantness. And when they do visit him – well, last time, Amanda was ill and the git did nothing whatsoever about her being sick for three days. And they are all afraid of his temper. I'm afraid he might try to snatch them, and lose his temper and… and make Adam display magic in defence of the younger ones, or any of them do so, and then they'd be expelled and their wands broken," she confided.

"Good job they're all learning to cast wandlessly then, so the ministry can't tag them," said Lucius, "But I do take your point, my dear. Hmm. He has stepchildren, doesn't he?"

"Yes, and he isn't any better father to them, poor brats," said Michelle.

"Well, well," said Lucius. "I have to be very careful in America with regard to anything that might be designated muggle baiting, but you know, I believe I might just have an idea. Spells are forbidden of course, but potions…. I think I need to go and see Sev," he said, standing and patting her kindly on the shoulder. "I think perhaps absolute truth is called for here; I believe that your ex-husband has trouble with that as a general thing."

"The trouble is he believes his own version of events," said Michelle, bitterly.

"Ah? But let me see, a potion combining the effects of a pensieve and a compulsion to speak about them in full….." Lucius broke off, smiled at her, and walked purposefully away.

Michelle felt better; Lucius was the sort of man you could place your trust in. She felt none of the magnetic charm that seemed to fascinate so many women, but she was reassured by his charisma.

oOo

"You want me to brew _what_ , Lucius?" demanded Severus.

Lucius repeated his request.

"Have you any idea how difficult that might be?" said Severus, waspishly.

"Obviously not, or I wouldn't have had to come to the expert," said Lucius. "Besides, you and your brats have licked the squib ritual so you should have some spare time, as Hawke's busy playing with the cheesy crumpets right now."

"Has anyone ever told you how outrageous you are, Lucius?" demanded Severus.

"Any amount of people," said Lucius. "Good, let me know when you've done it, won't you?" and he broke the fire-talking connection leaving Severus spluttering.

oOo

If Michelle Gardiner had known that Roger had also written to the children she might have been more concerned; but the muggle post did find its way to the castle, and the confederates of Adam felt his dismay, and saw the same echoed on the faces of his siblings.

Certain blood pulses were sent, and the Stripy Marauders, the not-marauders of the fourth, the Weird Marauders out of courtesy, the Hunting Marauders duly gathered Amanda, Andy and the would-be Time Marauders.

"Right," said Lilith, "You know I can read letters from the outside and I eavesdropped on Adam's as he's one of our set, so I can guess you other Gardiners got similar bits of emotional blackmail."

"Is that what it's called?" said Amanda.

"It is," said Lilith. "Now, whether you choose to spend time with your father is your business, remembering that you'll have to hide your magic when you do, but we want to make sure he can't snatch you in a mugglish sort of way nobody is going to think of guarding against."

"How?" demanded Amanda, her heart thumping, hoping she did know how.

"Because we all know fine well that we want to blood the lot of you anyway and were only waiting for you and Andy to be ready and for the brats in the first to have grown up a bit," said Sextus. "And frankly we might as well do the whole lot of the first while we're at it. Saves brewing extra cocoa," he added.

"And protects them too," said Jayashree, pragmatically.

"And protects them too," agreed Lilith. "I take it you don't actually object to being in? No? Good, slit up palms, I have an astronomy lesson in an hour and I don't want perturbations in Uranus for still being wobbly from a ceremony."

"Arithmantically…." Murmured Venus

"Arithmantic fiddlesticks, there are times when it doesn't count," said Lilith, paused, frowned and added "there's some kind of assimilative correlation by God-awful pun in Arithmancy not counting, but I think we'll leave it."

"I would, Half-pint," said Sextus. "Adam, mate, you go first with your sibs then let them all pass around the others."

"But…" said Andy.

"Andy, I am the greatest legilimens on earth, or at least in Myrtle's Loo," said Lilith "so just shut up and cut up."

Andy shut up and cut his palm; he liked his solitude but there was so much going on here and he did not want to be the only sibling left out.

There were gasps of surprise and satisfaction; and Amanda gave Adam a sudden hard hug, tears in her eyes.

"Well, whaddya know," said Andy, trying to pretend not to be impressed. He was suddenly aware of how much he and Richard Snape actually had in common.

Everyone drank marshmallow cocoa and ate the cream buns Lilith had wheedled out of the kitchen elves, and recovered.

"I'll let Dad know he doesn't have to worry now," said Gennar.

"He probably noticed," said Sextus.

"Oh well, I'm sure dropping him an owl won't do any harm, in case he was too busy with one of the Mums," said Gennar.

oOo

Lucius had noticed, and was much relieved in case Severus really did have problems with the potion.

oOoOo

The collected Marauders decided that they needed an EVENT worthy of celebrating a blooding, and in honour of a family of Gardiners the solution was, as Niobe Cooper said, quite obvious, because no muggle could penetrate a magical barrier of briar roses. The inmates of the castle awoke next morning to find the entire castle covered in unseasonal roses, not all of which were in any wise as nature intended, since squabbling had broken out and as well as relatively benign purple and black roses, there were also those with polka dots and vivid colour changes from centre to outside of petals.

"Decorative," murmured David Fraser as he looked out of his window in the morning. "Well, well, as soon as someone pricks themselves on a thorn, I think we shall curse them to wither and die in one hundred hours."

oOoOo

With the excitement of both the second task and Valentine's Day over, the collective schools hoped that the run-up to Easter might actually prove relatively quiet, since there was very little that even the most inventive of schoolchild might get up to in order to cap the events of a very eventful term! The Marauders had all dutifully performed their termly japes and there was work needing to be caught up on, in the hopes of performing well in the Summer Term exams.

And the threat to hold over smaller people that poor results might mean a school withdrawing from future Triwizard contests. And nobody wanted that!

 _Sorry it cut off a bit short; I had some Real Life and a bit of writer's block and it seemed better to get it out there at least covering the most important events of the term! And besides, the teachers deserve a quietish life for a while…_

 _ **The end of part 3. Part 4 to follow.**_

 _My thanks not only to my lovely Beta, J, whose FF handle I have forgotten but also to S whose handle I have also forgotten who made some wonderful suggestions regarding Russian names, and who can be credited with the Pure Cow school. My apologies that I'm too vague to remember anything but real names.  
_


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